Yesterday (Thursday, Aug 12, 2010), I took the second half of the day off to enjoy some sun and surf at Lake Tahoe.
While there, I saw something strange. A motor boat was slowly drifting ashore. It was nothing I hadn't seen before. Tourists will rent motor boats at Lake Tahoe all the time. Most people do not know how to tie knots properly - and hence, the boat "gets away from them".
After about half an hour, the boat was really close to shore.
A man in a brown shirt waded out to it, and hopped in. Another man in a motor-powered red raft drove to the drifting boat.
"Sir, you are not allowed to have your boat this close to the shore".
"It's not my boat - I do not know whose it is" the man in the brown shirt replied.
The man in the powered red raft attached a line, and they towed the drifting motor boat past the bouy (swim) line.
The motor boat suddenly sped off really fast - I wondered, "Crap, are they stealing it?"
A few moments later, a police boat pulled up - its sirens were on.
Two officers put a hook out in the water - and dragged up what looked like an anchor.
What happened next made me sick.
They then pulled a man's body out of the water.
I sat up and said, "HOLY SH*T - that's a man". I put my hands at the sides of my head, and ran my fingers through my hair trying to rub the shock off.
The people next to me - their line of sight was obscured by the police boat - I could see behind it - they all sat up and said, "WHAT!".
No chaos ensued - people were aghast. Everybody was standing up, trying to get a better look at what was happening. The police on the boat started administering CPR. The police boat's sirens came on, and it sped off.
I was sickened and shocked. The boat had been adrift for 30-45 minutes. How long had that man been face-down in the water (I saw the police pull him out).
After a while, I started to leave - so did EVERYBODY ELSE. I was loading the car in the parking lot.
I saw a man in a brown shirt - we made eye-contact - I said, "Everybody is leaving at once".
He replied, "yes" very stern like with no emotion.
"Do you know what happened?"
"No, but dang - I have never had to call 911 over something like this - EVER". His face was expressionless.
I said, "Oh, you're the guy that got the boat when it got too close to shore".
He looked ghastly and shocked, "Yes".
I was concerned about his state of mind, "You alright?"
He shook his head - like trying to shake his shock off, "Yeah, yeah - I'm ok".
I wanted to watch the news that night - I wanted to know what happened to this poor man. This all happened around 5:00 or so (I had no watch with me).
What's the big story on the 11:00 news?
The cougar festival at Aura's Ultra Lounge.
Followed by the fact that two miners (not two men) are trapped in a mine and believed to be dead.
No mention at all about the MAN whose life I HOPE DID NOT END at Kiva Beach, Lake Tahoe on Thursday August 12, 2010.
I really wanted to know what happened to that man - he looked young - maybe early thirties. I kept thinking, mishap, heart attack, drug overdose, what!?
It was a painful reminder why I do not watch the news.
It made me sick.
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