That Was Weird

Around 10PM I heard a loud thud followed by a crash. Moments later, one of those voice alarms started up. "Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson!" I got up from the computer to look out the front door just in time to see a dark car, a small compact like a Datsun B-210 or something, swing wide on the street and head down the block. Right turn and off to Union Avenue.

I got curious and walked outside. Not a good thing, really, in this neighborhood; it can result in getting sucked into someone else's bad business. But it turns out that the antique store on the corner had the front glass knocked out! A knot of young folks -- twenty-something, all in black, tatted and pierced, well-fed and middle class -- came around the corner. Some of them live there, upstairs in the loft. They had felt the building shake, then heard all the noise.

Turns out a car (maybe the one I saw, maybe a white car others saw) going south on Avalon had swerved into the intersection, crossed lanes and streets, plowed through a stop sign, shearing it off at ground level to propel it into the glass and into the store! You could see the car's track across the intersection, through some dirt, into the building and then down the sidewalk on Monroe. We later found a piece of headlight and then a large piece of side panel.

Apparently, the car's driver figured the cost of repairing the car was a whole lot less trouble than explaining whatever happened to the cops. And paying for the damage to the building, which is considerable, including some damaged antiques inside.

Wow. Never a dull moment on my block. At least the kids in the loft look like nice folks. Welcome to the neighborhood.