09 July 2008

Thak your lucky stars

If I want a bit of local news, I read the Kansas City Star. If I want some cheap entertainment, I read kansascity.com. As the paper itself has surely figured out, the comments section takes on a life of its own, often superseding the story itself in terms of excitement and even informativeness. Take, for example, this comment left on yesterday's story about police killing a gunman in Swope Park (my disc golf park of choice). The comment -- left in all-caps by someone named S/S -- is worth quoting in full. Citizen reporting doesn't get any more riveting than this.

I WAS JUST PASSING THE STOP LIGHT AT GREGORY AND JACKSON, WHEN A TAN SEDAN FLEW AND I MEAN LITTERALLY FLEW PASSED ME HEADING INTO SWOPE PARK AT A SPEED OF NO LESS THAN 70 MILES PER HOUR, I COULD SEE HIM PASSING, WEAVING IN AND OUT OF TRAFFIC, BY THE TIME I REACHED THE TURN TO THE ZOO, I COULD SEE HIM TURNING THE CORNER TOWARDS OLDHAM. WNEN I WAS GETTIG READY TO TURN THE LAST CORNER TOWARDS HILLCREST,I SAW HIS CAR, IN THE TREE, FRONT END STEMING AND CRUSHED, I DID STOP, THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHER CARS ALREADY THAT HAD ALSO STOPPED 3 OF THEM FROM WHAT I SAW ON THERE CELL PHONES, I ASSUMED THAT THEY HAD ALREADY CONTACTED THE POLICE. TO MY AMASEMENT,JUST AS I WAS REACHING FOR MY PHONE AND THE CAR DOOR, THE MAN OPEND THE DOOR OF HIS WRECKED CAR, GOT OUT WITH A SHOT GUN IN HIS HAND, STAGGERED, STRAIGHTENED UP AND MARCHED STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. NOT SURE WHAT TO DO, I DECIDED THAT I HAD TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, AND OPTED TO QUICKLY PASS HIM.
THIS MORNING I HEARD WHAT HAD ACTUALLY HAPPEND YESTERDAY EVENING, AND THAK MY LUCKY STARS THAT I GOT OUT OF THERE. GLAD NO INNOCENT BY STANDERS GOT HURT.

2 comments:

Elizabeth Baddeley said...

Ouch. My head hurts from all the shouting. I stopped reading the sports section on line because I kept getting too upset about the comments. One comment made after K-state beat KU in basketball almost made me cry...

Anonymous said...

I almost admire the douchebag who somehow brings in Obama's middle name into the story - his dedication isn't going to let a thing like context get in his way.