Sad Times

A few days ago while driving to Home Depot on the back road from La Conner, I saw several cars and people parking and looking towards the Mount Vernon/Burlington bridge. Some of them were filming with their smart phones and a couple even had binoculars.

I took a quick glance to see what had caused such a sudden interest in the bridge and noticed fire and police vehicles on the bridge. I assumed there had been an auto accident and proceeded on to do my shopping.

About twenty minutes later, I left by the same route and now a few dozen people were stopped and out of their cars. There were some on the dike and almost everyone had their smart phones out. While waiting for traffic on my way back home, I noticed a person straddling the railing on the bridge. This was obviously a potential suicide attempt in progress.

I thought how sad it has become for us as a society for people to gather and watch a person who has reached the nadir of their life but then I remembered that crowds have been gathering to watch the outcome of of similar events in colosseums and near bridges throughout the world for a long long time.

Apparently nothing has changed much for some people.

I said a silent prayer for this person and headed home.

Rick Dole

La Conner