The Aerie
Went off through the downtown Minneapolis skyway system for lunch today, determined to pick up some sushi from the new sushi place in the Habitrail south of the IDS building. I had seen this place in passing and since the half-life of a restaurant in the skyway system is shorter than that of Lawrencium I figured I ought to get there quickly.
Sushi Combo Tray 2 and a can of cold green tea in hand I headed back to the office through the IDS Crystal Court, having arrived from a different route. As I walked through the Crystal Court, a resounding BOOM sounded overhead....
Along with everyone else in the crowd I looked up, the better that the potentially razor-sharp shards of Crystal might find their way through my eyeballs and into my brain. Fortunately catastrophe was averted, the plastic (not crystal) domes overarching the interior plaza held, and nobody died.
But I flashed back on my friend Steve F., who was in the Crystal Court in 1996 when a man leapt to his death from the 30th floor (referenced in linked discussion). The man broke a window and then spent ten minutes being persuaded by those in the office not to jump. Steve was working in the building and saw glass fall past his window, so he went down to the Crystal Court to see what had caused the broken glass. His timing was perfect, he arrived just as the man slammed into the pavement.
My wife and I were astonished to see Steve on the news that night. Since I know Steve, I know that his conversational delivery style sounds very effusive - anyone who didn't know him might have thought he was cheerful about the incident seeing him speak on the air. But from speaking to him later I know it affected him very deeply and he ended up seeking counselling.
So I thought about that as explosive booms thundered through the Crystal Court. Peering up through the windows I could see yesterday's snow falling off of the IDS. It was mostly coming lose in long bars as it fell off the base of each window, but even the smallest snowball-sized clump of snow hit with a significant WHOOM. The full-width window-sized bars of snow were the loudest: the impact sounded like a giant car door being slammed in a big echoing room.
For me it was merely unnerving, wondering if I was going to see one of these clumps of snow burst through the ceiling. But I wondered what it would have done to Steve if he had been there. Flashbacks...
Posted by Albatross at March 14, 2006 2:20 PM | TrackBack