Have you ever wanted to be a stunt man?

If you're anything like me, when you saw that opening Mission Impossible 2 scene where Tom Cruise is free climbing that insane rock face/cliff, you said to yourself, "I do NOT want to be TC's stunt person!" It's not that I don't like heights or TC for that matter, but why put yourself in grave danger for a shot in a movie? I suppose it pays the bills for the stunt guys, but... it's just not my thing. (And, for all you movie buffs out there, I DO realize now that TC did his own stunts for that movie, but the first time I saw it, I didn't know that interesting bit of trivia.)

I don't take many risks in my life, and when I do, they're calculated risks - things that I have considered, and the potential damage if things don't pan out is worth the effort. However, as I was walking into the Metro today, I had my first ever "I wish I were a stunt person so I could try that" moment.

When you walk into the Vienna Metro, you actually have to walk in an enclosed bridge over Interstate-66. I-66 has 5 lanes across in each direction at the place you walk over it, so you can imagine it's a rather busy road. When I walked over I-66 in the enclosed bridge, I was closer than normal to the bank of windows overlooking the interstate. I looked down, and at that moment, a semi appeared directly below me. Traffic was moving slowly, but as the trailer came into view, I realized it was a completely empty flatbed, just WAITING for someone to jump onto it. I pondered the distance, determined I would most likely make it with only minor injuries, while at the same time calculating that the speed of the truck was slow enough that if I jumped at the first sight of the trailer, I would definitely land on the front part of the bed. This all happened in less than a second.

I shook my head, thinking how absurd it was, and just as I was about to continue, a second semi appeared below me - this one had a full trailer on the back - and the top of the trailer was MUCH closer to me than the flatbed had been. I could DEFINITELY make this one! I returned to reality, and continued, but turned back (with camera in hand) for one last glance, and there was a THIRD semi, this one with a flat bed again.

I'm telling you - if not for the steel, cement, tile, and glass enclosure containing me, I would have definitely ridden that last semi wherever it was going!

Ok, so maybe I wouldn't have, but it's not very often I get urges to do such rash things as jump onto moving trucks. Someday, maybe I'll follow through...