<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Just an interesting Pittsburgh topic which occurred about three hours ago in front of my apartment building.<br><br></div>I went to the <span style class="">IKEA</span> store earlier today and had a moderately large bag full of <span style class="">IKEA</span> stuff for my apartment. I can walk in the front door of the building and up one short flight of stairs right to the door of my apartment or I can park in my parking space at the rear of the building and walk up four (4) flights of stairs and two hallways to get to my front door. <br>
<br></div>In addition to the <span style class="">IKEA</span> bag I had my backpack and a carton of soda. This was a lot of weight to carry up four flights especially considering my <span style class="">COPD</span>. So I decided to park at the front door at a spot on Brownsville and take the stuff up then at some point come back down to take my truck to the parking space at the rear of the building.<br>
<br></div>When I came down Brownsville Road from Stewart Avenue I noticed only the spot I usually park in (if I park on the street) was open and this is beside a nice tree about 30 or so feet tall which shades my front windows. However, there were also all the children and their friends (at least six kids) of the owner of the bodega three door south on Brownsville plus a group of women who were on the sidewalk in front of my building and some kids of theirs. I presumed them to be patrons of the laundromat two door north of my building. These people were in addition to several people just coming and going on the sidewalk. So I decided to just avoid the congestion and go around to <span style class="">Lachmann</span> Way and park in my space then come up through the building.<br>
<br></div>I parked, lugged my <span style class="">IKEA</span> bag filled also with the soda and the backpack up to the apartment, unlocked the door, went inside then placed the bag in the living room and went to the front windows and looked outside.<br>
<br></div>Where Brownsville Road, just five minutes before, had been packed with traffic, pedestrians, kids playing, women standing talking, and all parking spaces filled except for the one I had opted out of, it was now a completely clear parking lane all the way from Stewart Avenue to the laundromat. The bodega owners kids and friends had vanished along with any casual pedestrians and the women had gone back into the laundromat.<br>
<br></div>Then, in the flash of an eye there was a bumping sound, a screeching of brakes, a loud impact sound, the 30 foot tree fell like a matchstick and seemed to explode into several pieces and the building shook with an impact. A car just driving down the street all of a sudden left the travel land, came into the parking lane, knocked the tree down (splitting it into five big pieces) and came to rest against the front door of the building. <br>
<br></div>Had all those cars, plus my truck been parked there, had all those children been playing in that area of the sidewalk, had the women still been standing talking and had all the other people on the sidewalk still been there, no telling what the collateral damage may have been. Everybody and everything moved from that area of the street and sidewalk just seconds before the driver lost control.<br>
<br></div><div>It doesn't happen very often, in fact in the grand scheme of things, hardly ever at all. There is Divine Intervention and it played out today in the 2800-block of Brownsville Road in Pittsburgh.<br></div>
<div><br></div><br><div><div><br><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>Herb Brannon<br>Back In The Burgh !<br></div>GO PENS !<br></div>
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