Monday, June 30, 2008

from the "I see dead people" dept.

A little more than a week ago I made the long trip out to my storage facility in Delta.

I have a big crate there, one that is jammed full of my stuff. Looking at it 18 months after sealing it up has made me realize how much of the contents are crap.

But amongst the crap hides some important stuff: business papers, video tapes of days-gone-by, thousands of photos and my bike.

My bike is the reason why I went out to Delta in the first place.

Unfortunately, when I packed my storage container, I was stupid. Instead of thinking ahead and asking myself what items would I want access to first -- and then packing those items last -- I just tossed everything in. The first item in was my bike.

It took about an hour of pulling all the crap, photos, papers and video tapes out, just to reveal my bike. Then I had to search for my tools, gloves, water bottle, helmet, etc. And then I had to stick it all back in.

Not fun. But, I had my bike.

As luck would have it, the weather has been great for cycling. I've been getting out on an almost daily basis. I am hoping that by getting back into cycling, I'll shrink in size and become healthier. At my ripe old age, I need to get serious.

But here's the thing: during two of the last three rides, I've seen dead people. I kid you not.

Apparently, the south end of Vancouver's Granville Street Bridge makes for a great place to kill yourself. I reckon a 6-story plunge to the South False Creek cycling route is fool-proof -- as evidenced by the yellow tarps surrounded by slowly moving first responders.

So I'm 2 for 3. And on the ride where I didn't see a body, I actually did see the -- how to put this -- stain from the first suicide.

This begs the question: Why are so many people killing themselves on beautiful summer afternoons? How do you explain it to the kids in the nearby park? Or the tourists. Or the cyclists.

If, as the B.C. government tells us on a daily basis, this is the best place on earth, then what the hell is wrong?

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