152.
artist:alkaline trio
album:from here to infirmary
have you ever driven down the east coast and through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel? while it looks really pretty in pictures, as a girl who is terrified of drowning and therefore has an irrational fear of water, this was pure torture. this is the kind of stuff that I've had nightmares about since i was tiny. i love the ocean, as long as i can see the sand and still feel it under my feet. in this instance, i could not, and i was freaking out.
Chelle, Chris and i were on our way to see the boys play a gig somewhere in VA, and Chris had volunteered to drive. we were listening to alkaline trio because that's what we did quite often (he is the reason that i really paid any attention to this band) and chatting about nothing significant. i saw that we were approaching a bridge and braced myself. chelle already knew i wasn't going to handle it well, but i don't think any of us really were aware that this wasn't any normal bridge. i can hold my breath crossing the Delaware memorial and I'm actually really okay with the Philly bridges. but this was 20 miles of bridges and tunnels, and i couldn't handle it.
i remember sitting in the passenger seat of Chris' car and having my whole body turned in his direction. the car was quiet because i had stopped talking, and i was flailing my hands. he took his right hand off of the steering wheel in order to hold my hand and try to calm me down, and i yelled at him to keep both hands on the wheel. looking back, its kind of comical, but at that moment i was sure that he was going to flinch and drive into the endless body of water that was level with the side of the bridge.
do you know what was playing on the radio as all of this nonsense was happening? Armageddon. the lyrics at the end of the song are just the words we sink over and over. awesome, right? i remember stopping the freak out for long enough to sit still, look him dead in the eye and say to him "can we skip the rest of this song?"
every time i hear that song i think of him and that night.
I don't want to laugh at your pain or anything, but this is a pretty funny story, especially the ending.
ReplyDeleteI know that bridge too. I remember the first time I drove over it, I had to pee and we had just gone by a rest stop. No problem, I thought, "I'm sure there's one on the other side of this bridge.
...
...
Oh god the bridge goes forever and I'm surrounded by water and now it's raining... "
Then there would be a tunnel, and I'd think, oh good, this must be the end.
Nope.
The tunnels look really creepy too the way you can see straight down into them when you come up to them. I'm not normally afraid of tunnels or bridges but those kinda creep me out.