When: October 10, 2008.

What: The Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors vote on installing a safety net to catch people attempting to commit suicide. They vote in favor 14-1.

Rant: Suspension bridges are a mesmerizing testament to the industriousness of man. New Yorkers are lucky to gaze upon squillions of them. The good folk of San Francisco have a fantastic one in the Golden Gate Bridge which is not only orange but also possesses the dubious honor of being the most popular location in the United States to commit suicide.

Chief engineer Joseph Strauss was a wee man, standing at 5-feet tall and wanted to be able to peer over the railing to enjoy the view. He built it at 4-feet, a low height that many feel contribute to the high rate. There was trouble from the onset. In August of the year it was built (1937), Harold Wobber, a veteran of World War I, plunged to his death upon uttering the words, “This is as far as I go.” The drop is a quick one, 4 seconds at over 80 mph. The net that was approved, has the lowest projected costs at $40 million is the safest of the five proposed alternatives. Despite the near-unanimous vote, the SF locals and politicos who oppose the net citing reasons of aesthetics and those who claim that the whole “especially high rate of suicides thing” is a myth will be glad to hear it will be YEARS before the net will be built. It seems the lionshare of the heavy lifting has already been done with the board doing the “yea/nay bit.”

Lesson: The way things work in 2008 will probably be the way things work in 2009 which makes my brain bleed in frustration.