Again, a moment to pause & appreciate the cool professionalism of those in & around the Key Bridge at 1:24 am Tuesday. Ship’s pilot radios in that ship has lost steerage & will hit bridge. Someone (maritime control?) transmits urgent alert to Maryland/Balt police dispatch… —>
2/ Police dispatched with just a few crisp phrases—ship has lost steering, close the bridge to traffic—and race to do just that. No time for confusion. No time for … ‘What do you mean, close the bridge? Who says?’ 4 minutes, alert to collapse. Bridge successfully closed… —>
3/ That’s amazing. Again, a system worked—a government system. All those people just ordinary frontline workers in anonymous, sometimes invisible jobs. Maritime radio operators. Police/fire dispatchers. Bridge police & state police. All working 11p to 7a o’night shift. —>
4/ Cool, direct, urgent, successful. Maybe not a college degree or a 6-figure salary among them—and they used their training & experience at the most critical, high-pressure moment to save lives. All day, every day—that happens & we don’t see it. That’s your ‘deep state.’ —>
5/ Just in Port of Baltimore, 45 cargo container ships come & go every 24 hours. 16,000 ships a year. They require all this guidance all the time (and US has 8 LARGER ports). Each ship with 5,000 containers loaded & unloaded. Not to mention… —>
6/ The 8 construction workers on the bridge—patching potholes in the middle of the night, so the road stays maintained, at a time that reduces inconvenience to us (and yes, is easier for them too because of low traffic). Every night… —>
7/ Every night, 5 or 6 days a wk, men & women just like them do that dangerous work on interstates & bridges in all 50 states. Here’s the moment: An officer who closed one of the approaches says on radio…‘Can we notify the construction workers? Can we call the supervisor?’ —>
8/ The officer was ready to drive out & warn the workers when someone on the radio — seconds later — said, The bridge is down. The whole bridge. That unnamed officer had been immediately thinking about how to save those guys out on the bridge—workers just like him. Thanks. —>
9/ Thanks to all these folks who make the world run, and run safely 99% of the time, and work with skill, grace, clear-headedness in invisible but essential jobs. Even as disaster unfolded Tuesday after midnight, they were at work.
@cfishman Thank you for this. People roll their eyes at me when I state that most government employees are good at their jobs
@cfishman Thank you for the most positive, least toxic thread in my Twitter feed today
@cfishman Thank you for this beautiful and essential reminder thread.
@cfishman 🎯 I have been saying this for years. The people who keep the world together are the anonymous people who keep the lights on, deliver the milk, etc.
@cfishman Thanks for providing the context and great actions that prevented an even larger tragedy.
@cfishman Why doesn’t Hollywood make movies about heroes like those guys like they used to?
@cfishman Please also credit the professionalism of the immigrants working to fix potholes on behalf of all of us, routinely overnight, in a hazardous location and staying on the job. May they rest in peace and may their families be comforted and amply compensated.
@cfishman Your account of these events has deeply affected me. 🥺 Reminds me of the everyday heroes who showed up to help in NYC on 9/11/2001.