I See Dead People

Well not people, just person; and not up close and personal, but off from a distance.

The plan yesterday was to, after working out, head across the street to the market for groceries.

After loading my workout gear into the car, I thought to check my fanny pack for cash and oh oh, I didn’t have sufficient on me.

Thinking the ATM at the market across the street had probably been emptied over the weekend, fresh cash not yet arrived (no cash in the ATM has happened before on a Monday), I drove to the branch of the same market that has a Teller setup, sure to have cash.

This branch of the market is located in the heart of where the homeless congregate. Thus, the shopping center that houses the market, a restaurant, fast food place, et al, is video monitored, with a voice that comes over the air announcing the area is being monitored, no loitering.

Also, inasmuch as the market is off to the side, away from the other shops and stores, the first business on that side of the lot, there is quite a lot of high iron fencing where the market and the market’s parking lot is located, to control access, keep the unhoused out.

What with that monitoring voice coming over the air, fencing and security guards, I always think of a prison when I shop there.

Believe it or not, this market always has the freshest produce.

I can only assume that, regardless of the people I see living on the streets in that area, it has something to do with Redlining …… that area being rated at a higher income than where I live because fruits and vegetables are not always that fresh at the corner market, often appear to be on their last leg. That never happens at this other market — the prison.

So, anyway, as I was driving to the entrance of the prison, I looked over and saw what I instantly knew was a dead body.

First thing I spotted was a figure on the ground, covered with what looked like a blanket. Then I noticed the cop car parked alongside where the body was located.

Once I parked inside the prison, I could see the tape surrounding the scene.

I observed nothing that gave the impression a crime had been committed, so maybe the person just gave up the ghost by natural or medical means.

That’s what happened to one of my brothers. He had a heart attack while stepping off a bus, passed away right there on the sidewalk.

After getting cash inside the market, I spent a long time working through my list because I was out of absolutely everything — except eggs.

By the time I finished shopping, headed back to the car thinking the coroner would have arrived, taken the body away by now.

Nope.

Still there on the cold sidewalk.

Just how long does it take for the coroner to get to the scene? thought I.

Remember that classic "train leaves the station" math problem? Well, the answer to how long it takes for the coroner is much like that math question and was found in the news I found online this morning.

Let’s say I was at the market from noon to 12:30. The video indicates the news and coroner arrived 17 hours ago. I downloaded the video at 7 a.m. this morning. Seventeen hours from 7 a.m. is 2 p.m.

So, correct me if I’m wrong, with my poor math skills, in estimating the answer being the coroner arrived around an hour and a half after I left ……… the deceased body lay there two more hours ……… likely way more because the unknown element is what time did the cop arrive, cordon off the area before I arrived.

So, that's how my week started ……… seeing dead people.