Thursday, September 6, 2007

since when does tragedy equal tourism?

soooo, this past weekend they FINALLY opened the the 10th Ave Bridge, which made people feel the need to flock to it as if it was disney land. 'hey Ma, pack the kids in the mini-van and lets head on down the road to see that there bridge that fell down'... i saw license plates from north dakota, idaho (i cant really blame them, there cant be much to do in that shit hole, other than peel potatoes), michigan, wisconsin... the list of midwest states could go on until i started smelling corn out of nowhere, like those who have smell something random right before they have a stroke. anyway, i come from the land of tourism (florida), where a stain looking like the virgin mary on the side of the road can be considered noteworthy, or turtles with the face of hemmingway painted on their back requires a roadside stand, and i just don't see the bridge as something that should be a tourist locale. frankly, those people flocking to it and taking pictures to send back to granny in bumfuck kentucky seem a bit like vultures. more so, is the d-bag that was having a goddamn yard sale at the apartment buildings at the end of the 10th Ave Bridge. not selling 35W bridge paraphernalia (which i'm not sure if that would be MORE offensive or LESS), but garage sale type shit like his old keyboard and some def leppard posters. i guess he's a real opportunist, taking advantage of the tourism to sell his meaningless crap; out of curiosity, i wonder how much he actually sold? i didn't think falling bridges and the resulting death would be good for commerce, but hey, stranger things have happened. back to the fact that the 10th ave bridge was being made into a tourist pit of quicksand, the first rule that i don't think the midwest gets, is that you cant get in the way and block traffic. that is not good and it pisses people off. i have horrible road rage to begin with, much less after being disgusted with these jackoffs for being there to begin with, on the way back when i was closer to the 35W bridge side, i decided to start screaming "OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BRIDGE???? WHERE DID IT GO? PART OF IT'S MISSING!!!! WHY ARE ALL OF YOU STANDING AROUND, PEOPLE COULD BE HURT!?!?!?!!?!? IT'S FUCKING ARMAGEDDON WHAAAAAAAT HAAAPPENED TO THE BRIDGE??? i don't think anyone was amused. but hey, most came to the bridge for entertainment, right?
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3 comments:

Mangawitch said...

Heya - thanks for the comment on my blog -
I agree with your sentiments on morbid tourism. I live in South Wales where one of the most popular 'attractions' seems to be the gravestones of the children who died in the Aberfan Disaster where a school was wiped out by a landslide in 1966.

Knight of Nothing said...

I don't doubt for a moment that there were plenty of turds in the crowd on the day you passed the bridge. But that would hold true no matter where a large group of people is gathered.

For my part, that bridge was a part of my daily life for 15 years. My neighborhood's traffic flow is fucked because it is gone. I went to have a look at it, to mourn those who died, and to see what society's neglect hath wrought. My guess is I was hardly alone in this regard.

Thanks for commenting on my blog. I'll be checking back on you... cheers!

Arthur Fonzarelli said...

count me as one of those who has been blessed with a comment from you on my blog. whatever brought you to my blog, i have found yours to be entertaining, so i'll be checking it often.

i understand the mourning aspect, the need to see it for yourself aspect, but yeah, it is probably too much of a tourist attraction at this point, and that's a shame.