The Day the Freeway was Shut Down

Whenever I watch an action movie, I see the car chases, bank heists, explosions, the sweat trickling down the brow of the star as he negotiates with the desperate bad guys, and think, I wonder, if this is realistic, why we never hear about these kinds of things happening? Such widespread damage and chaos would affect thousands of people's lives. It always reduces the credibility of the film in my mind, and disrupts my suspension of disbelief.

I woke up a little later than I meant to today, got the coffee pot brewing, and hit the shower. I might have hummed to myself or something, but most likely not. It was one of those mornings when a fellow wakes up on the couch, having drifted off late the night before without going to bed. More specifically it was the kind of night when the fellow in question has slept in an awkward posture, so that his old achy neck and shoulder have acted up and now his thumb will be numb all morning, and his shoulder will twitch all day.

Arriving at the office at 9:30 turned out to be a chore in itself. Everyone operating a vehicle on 85 seemed skittish and brake-happy, and there was a line a mile long to exit onto 880 North, halfway to work. I rather expected a huge traffic jam just after the exchange, Murphy being the demon bastard he is, with his law and all that.

No such thing. It was nothing. Turns out it was just a bit of foreshadowing.

Later in the work day, as I was walking papers up and down the halls (let's face it, to the uninitiated, that's sometimes what it looks like I do). Elizabeth mentioned that her dad, an elder at my old church, was in lockdown at the bank. I looked round at her quizzically. Apparently the bank had been robbed.

There have been a rash of bank robberies lately, some affecting our office's ordinary bank branch. As it turns out, this group of robbers had hit the branch of a different bank, where the old church does its banking. I suppose it stinks to be stuck in a bank that is being locked down, but in a sense, it also sounds exciting. I don't ever remember hearing about real bank robberies around here until the last year or so.

I wonder whether it's just due to the economy, but there's another thing. If there is an increase in bank robberies now, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a result of an awakened awareness in men that stolen riches are sweet. That's the way the Bible puts it, and it also includes the consequences. I haven't heard of any females robbing banks, and Dane Cook worded the same concept more palpably by listing it on a short list of things guys would choose over sex. In the sex-crazed, sex-defined post-modern mind, that's remarkable.

Anyway, apparently some of the robbers got away and caused a chase. They wrecked on my route home and there was a bomb scare, so 85 south was closed all afternoon. I didn't have to leave Cupertino till after worship team practice, so I didn't have to worry about it. Still, a bomb scare, bank robbery, a car chase and a closed freeway make me happy. From now on I will be able to take action movies a little more seriously.