My every bridge-crossing fear come true (except that I wasn't on it)

I was going to say that I was making up the word "daymare," but it's actually in Dictionary.com.

Throughout my life, I've had many little daymares while crossing bridges. Living on an island, bridges are a part of life. Still, there was always this little worry that one could collapse with me on it. Given the size of many of our suspension bridges around here, the fall alone, buckled in or not, would likely be fatal. If not, drowning would be a real possibility.

Still, despite occasional spectacular failures, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, I've lived comfortably with the thought that the chances of a modern bridge collapsing with cars on it, plunging them into a river, was extremely unlikely. Sort of like nervousness about flying. Could something happen? Sure, anything can happen, but it's very unlikely, so why worry about it?

Now comes this...



That, Ladies and Germs, is what remains of the Interstate 35W bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. During rush hour tonight, it collapsed. Fortunately, pieces of the roadbed seem to have stayed out of the water, but, sadly, not all of it. There are fatalities, and divers are searching in the water. What a mess! I just hope there are no other victims under that mess. What a sad day!