Wait, you can still see me even when I'm covering my eyes like this?

I woke up this morning to the sound of my cell phone. It was 6:56 a.m., according to my call log, and for some reason I answered the call.

It was the early editor, calling to say police had received a report that someone had jumped off the Victory Bridge and that the executive editor (whom I later found out was calling from the comfort of his own home) wanted me to go out there.

So I threw on some clothes and stumbled my way to the Perth Amboy/Sayreville border, a location where I routinely get lost. I got lost.

About 45 minutes later, I was driving over the bridge and saw the melange of police cars pulled over to the side. Initially I pulled over to the shoulder, but thought better of it and figured I'd park on the other side of the bridge and walk back up. I didn't consider how long the bridge is across.

So I pulled over at the turnoff, parked, and started walking back over the bridge. The bridge is a causeway with an incline, so it comes to a peak in the middle. The cops were at the peak.

I was muttering as I trudged my way up the bridge. It was 7 a.m. and I should have still been in bed with my cats, but instead I was walking up this stupid bridge to a bunch of cops who were just gonna tell me that they would try to have a press release by the end of the day and they couldn't give me any information now -- blah, blah; grumble, grumble; I hate my life, I hate my life; good thing I wore these shoes and not heels or something; grrr, grrrr; damn everything, etc., etc., etc. Why can't I see the cops anyway? Where'd they go? Did they leave? No, I would have seen them driving past me if they left. Oh I guess I can't see them because they're at the top of the hill and I'm at the bottom. Blah, blah. Grumble, grumble. Damn everything, etc., etc., etc.

I got to the top of the bridge and approached the cops.

"Did you have a good walk?" they said, laughing.

It occurred to me quickly: Just because I couldn't see them didn't mean they couldn't see me.

"You were watching me the whole time I walked, huh?" I asked.

"Yup."

In fact, it may have helped. They seemed to feel badly for the crazy grumbling girl who was trudging her way up the bridge at 7:30 a.m. Initially they gave me the, "The press officer will be in at about 2 today" line, but then they all looked at each other and this wave of sympathy seemed to come over them. They gave me the info they had *and* a ride back to my car.