Blisters & Sunburn

I crossed it (or walked across it, however you want to look at it) yesterday. Yup, Suicide Bridge - also known as the Golden Gate Bridge - an expansive 4,200 foot long suspended bridge that connects San Francisco to Marin County. And thinking I am immune to such things as, oh I don't know, blisters and sunburn, I undertook the arduous trek in ... wait for it, flip flops. 45 minutes each way across the bridge and my lilly-white feet were blistered and my skinny little calves were screaming.

But it was worth it.

Half way across the Bridge, I came across this sign. My initial thought was, "no shit!", until I did some research about it. Did you know that since the Bridge opened in 1937 (until 1995 when the last count stopped), there have been 1,000 suicides from the Bridge? That's horrific. I looked over the edge and this little thing called Vertigo set in. Really, you need balls of steel to even THINK about hopping over. But apparently not everyone felt the same way because since 2003, there has been an average of one jump every two weeks. Balls of steel mate, balls of steel. The 220 foot (67 m) fall from the bridge takes four seconds and jumpers hit the water at 75 miles per hour (120 km/h). Back to those balls. Damn!

But fortunately, as a suicide prevention initiative, signs (much like the ones in the pic above) promote a special telephone available on the Bridge that connects to a crisis hotline. Yes, that's going to help. You're going to make your way to the Bridge, get yourself psyched because of whatever turmoil you're going through, and out of the corner of your eye you'll see this sign. A ray of hope, of light. You'll call the crisi line and all will be solved. Or so we'd like to hope. Me, I crossed the Bridge during the day so as to avoid the 'suicide watch cameras'. And in so doing, managed to get a less-than-lovely pinky red sunburn.