TheBanyanTree: The Bridge *Warning - political commentary*

[Margaret R. Kramer]

At about 6:30 pm on 8/1/07, I was going online to check my email.  CNN is my
homepage and the site had a hyperlink to a story about a bridge collapsing
in MN over the Mississippi River.  I thought it must be a small town up
north or maybe south of us, and clicked on the link to see where it was.

I was shocked to read that it was the 35W bridge in downtown Minneapolis.  I
couldn’t catch my breath for a moment.  Then I ran into our bedroom where
Ray was replacing our closet doorknob and turned on the TV.  He came over
immediately and we watched in stunned silence as the images on a collapsed
bridge with cars scattered like toys on its deck.

What the heck happened?

35W is a major highway into downtown Minneapolis.  It crosses the river and
enters downtown from the north and from the south, it’s a quick way through
downtown into the northern suburbs.  I haven’t been on that bridge for 2-3
years since I don’t need to travel in that area.  I’ve never been scared on
that bridge.  I worried more about all the quick lane changes I needed to
make in order not to have to go off ramp on some “Exit Only” lane than
falling into the river.

Gosh, I thought, downtown must be a mess along with the other freeways and
roads.  But like true Minnesotans, it doesn’t take long for us to get things
organized.  Even the people on the bridge, dazed and stunned from riding the
concrete deck down to the river, managed to get out of their vehicles and
help other people.

Ray and I watched all the news channels that night.  Actually, the best
coverage was on CNN.  Our local stations couldn’t keep up with them.  I
wanted to go help.  But what could I do?

It’s funny to be in the center of the national news.  We rarely are and it
was almost embarrassing to see Minneapolis lead the news stories for the
past few days.

The death count is now at five.  The last count I saw for injured was 79.
There are probably more people in the cars in the river.  There are eight
missing people.  It’s a miracle that so many people did live through this
horrible experience.

The work is slow with the swift currents and lack of visibility.  A crane is
being brought up river to begin lifting the pieces out.  Engineers are
analyzing the video and the bridge itself to try to piece together what
happened.

What happened is that we don’t have enough money to fix things.  I don’t
mind paying taxes for education, health, and our infrastructure.  I don’t
like paying taxes to support a war that makes no sense.  Even our military
doesn’t get the basic things it needs to survive.  Look at the VA, for
example, basic healthcare for our veterans, and the system is in financial
tatters.

Look at New Orleans, two years after Katrina, it’s suffering no matter how
much the government tries to put a positive spin on that forsaken city.  A
friend of mine says they’re still pulling bodies out of houses, yet we never
hear about it.  The death count will remain artificially low.

People can’t get passports expedited in order to travel.

The list goes on and on.

Then a bridge collapses. And the president himself will grace us with his
presence today.  Please, stay home and spare us the photo op.

Designers are already working on the new bridge.  We need that bridge, but
we will work around it for a few years.  We’ll get used to rush hour jams
and major delays when it snows.  But the bridge will be built.

And we’ll always remember the ones who lost their lives.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is
also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the
flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.
~Abram L. Urban