Hello. Every now and then, I tend to post something here to the effect of "I'm still alive, and I haven't abandoned the blog." This may be an "I'm alive" post, but the connotation is a little different this time. Today should have been a fairly normal day. I had a few interviews scheduled, and returned to my apartment to grab lunch between them. I left the apartment at 12:15 for my second interview, and returned around 1:40. My intention was to stop by my apartment, change out of my suit into more comfortable clothes, and head out again to go grocery shopping. Instead, I found my apartment inaccessible.
Police barricades cut off that entire side of the block.
Unbeknownst to me, three incidents had occurred in my brief absence. The first was a minor collision, blocking some traffic. The second followed from the first, with an 18-wheeler backing over the car behind it (well, under it, but you get my point). Apparently, there weren't any critical injuries in either of those cases. That can't really be said of incident #3. In the third incident, which was apparently unrelated to the others, a man was shot in the stomach about a minute's walk from where I sleep every night. On learning that, from the comfort of a Starbucks a few minutes away, I started shaking for reasons other than the unneeded caffeine.
I've lived most of my life in a pretty quiet neighborhood with little in the way of danger. My sister's car window was smashed once, and some possessions stolen, but I certainly never felt that my life was in peril. On moving to a new city, I'm about a month into my new life before someone gets shot in the stomach half a block away mere minutes after I leave. So yes, I am still alive.
Alive, but trembling.
Guitarman, out.
