In the aftermath of the carnage in Boston, it is time for us as a nation too all ask each other, "Well, what do you think about what happened in Boston?" This follows the period of time when we ask each other, "Did you hear about what happened in Boston?" For myself, I have mixed feelings about even knowing what happened in Boston. I certainly understand the value of sharing information, and its likely that we can learn things from this that might prevent other such events from occurring.

But on the other hand, once I ascertained that neither I or anyone I knew was directly impacted, on a certain level that's enough for me. Then endless reportage of the human tragedy gets numbing after a while. And over the top, as noted in The Onion.

And then there's the almost game, portrayed beautifully by Garrison Keillor in Lake Wobegon Days. At the beginning of that book, a cornice falls off the bank on Main Street, shattering on the street and not coming close to hitting someone. Conversation in the town for the next week was consumed with how everyone had almost walked by that very spot at that exact time.

For my part, I had walked by that block, and almost by the finish line, a mere 48 hours earlier. On the other hand, I do have one story, which I know I've told before, so excuse me. In this 100% true tale, I had reluctantly agreed to help a not especially close friend move early one Saturday morning. I agreed because I was the only one in my friend group who both lived in New York and had a car.

I got up somewhat groggily and got my car out of its space on East 84th Street, about a block from my apartment. Like many buildings in the neighborhood, it was being renovated and was covered with scaffolding, but I managed to get it out easily enough and headed downtown. I was gone for most of the day, shuttling boxes back and forth, and when I returned late afternoon, I began cruising for a spot. As I headed down that block, I noticed that the scaffolding was gone, and realized that the building, or whatever part of the building was left in the midst of renovation, had collapsed into the street, collapsing the scaffolding and leaving the car that had taken my space under a 6 foot-tall pile of bricks. Yes, it was on that day that I vowed to always be a helpful person.

I know, that story is completely irrelevant, but hey, that makes it only slightly less on point that much of the news coverage these days.