Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Claustrophobia and a Little Imagination


Years ago I was in St. Louis to cover a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention as a reporter. I didn't make it to the arch because I stayed in neighboring Frontenac. It used to be hard to get a room in a town where they had a Southern Baptist Convention. 

Last week I had to go to a conference in St. Louis, and I stayed a short hike from the arch, so I finally got see it. And make the trip to the top. 

The small tram cars sure are tiny. With just a little imagination, it's possible to envision many things that could go wrong. I have more than a little imagination.

What if this gets stuck?

What if there were a nuclear strike while I'm locked in here?  

How long would it take to gnaw through the door and climb down the elaborate network of metal steps, ladders and spiral stair cases?

While I was at the top, something came up I hadn't thought of. "What was that?" a staffer asked when something sounding like a plane flew over.

Then they explained that the arch is a no-fly zone.

That gave me a whole new cause for sweating on the way down, but I'm glad I got to take the trip, plus get the view of the Mississippi and the City of St. Louis from above.


 

3 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I've only seen it from a distance. BTW, I reviewed Scars and Candy on amazon and goodreads. Good stuff.

Sidney said...

Thanks for the review. I'm headed over to take a look.

Snowbrush said...

I've been in that arch a few times, I guess--two anyway--but it was decades ago.

You covered a Baptist convention! What a scream. I just wrote about the Southern Baptists of my Mississippi childhood. If you held a gun to my head and told me to say something nice about Southern Baptists, I would be at a complete loss.

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