Unseen killers lurk…

This past November I was forced to contemplate this question of implied danger as I walked across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I have described this event in detail in some past entries, including descriptions of the massive and very obvious police presence all along the bridge. So, if there is no danger, then why the small army of law enforcement? I have now come to realize that being escorted by the armed guard at the Kenyan hotel, and making my way across a bridge bristling with police are two sides of the same coin. In both situations, a potential killer was lurking unseen. One that had taken lives before, and would do so again unless it could be stopped. These are killers that the powers that be (hotel staff, park rangers, bridge authorities and police) are well aware of but yet remain far outside the daily consciousness of most people. Of course, most everyone knows that lions (and other large carnivores) occasionally eat people, but few would expect them to come onto the grounds of a hotel. This was also the case with the hippo infested river and the warning that few took seriously. But there was no literal warning sign at the bridge, only a few emergency call boxes strategically placed at its highest points. I have no doubt that those standing guard had seen what these killers could do to their victims. Death by fangs and claws, tusks or horns and hooves is the means by which the beasts of East Africa do in their unlucky victims. Death by impact with the water (and drowning), ground or other surface is the steel and concrete killer’s usual M.O.

Of course, the former are active killers, as they are living things. Some of these creatures seek out humans as a source of food, while the dangerous herbivores diligently patrol and enforce their personal space and territory. An intrusion of such space is often met with a very harsh and often deadly manner. The metal monster, in contrast, is purely a passive predator, dependent wholly upon its victims to make the approach. But the mechanism of how most all of the slain are claimed is by virtue of their crossing of a boundary, or, by being in a particular location. The animal’s victim somehow simply ends up at the wrong place and wrong time, often by foolishness and ignorance. By contrast, the metal monster’s victims must consciously approach – and then cross that boundary that can spell death. These are the prey that purposefully choose their own killers…

But it is most noticeable in the way that this metal monster’s lethal prowess is guarded against. Again, that which few would ever notice, nor would most even realize that there is a grave danger. According to the event’s organizers, some 17,000 people walked across the bridge that morning. I have no doubt that the vast majority of them were just as unaware of its danger as I was unaware of the dangers posed by hippos at the riverside. Ignorance, I suppose, is truly bliss. That is, until someone dies.

Both kinds of killers also require that, in order to try and avoid injury or death, plans must be put in place ahead of time. Those tasked with guarding people (from wild animals or from falling to their death) must always be vigilant. That hotel guard was likely keenly aware of the habits and behavior of the local wildlife, taking into account signs of activity such as tracks and other markings. The police on the bridge were carefully watching everyone who passed by their appointed stations, scrutinizing the passing crowds. Potential death was lurking there, every bit as invisible as a hungry lion obscured by the unfathomable darkness of an African night. As I walked out onto the bridge I was taken aback by this strong security presence, and I told myself that it was because they were concerned about terrorist attacks. A large bridge like that, filled with lots of people, would certainly make for such a target. However, no runner or walker was allowed onto the bridge with anything larger than a fanny pack, and those were searched beforehand. There were also medics on the bridge at various locations, and they were there in case someone had a medical emergency. But deep in my mind I know that there was another more ominous reason for all of this. The police, and possibly the medics, were like that ranger who was looking and listening for signs of predators around the hotel. They were diligently scanning for any sign that the metal monster was about to claim a victim, any inkling that someone might be planning to heed the monster’s call and do the unthinkable. Someone who might be acting like that man I saw on that overpass, maybe standing too close to the edge, or spending too much time staring down into the abyss. Our safari driver clearly had experience at reading the body language of the charging elephant and other animals. It is most likely that many of the police and first responders on the bridge were also aware of the movements and actions of the crowds, watching for signs that the monster beneath their feet might be about to lay claim to another life.