Bus Stop Shenanigans
Some years ago I was walking in the Adelaide Hills when, walking towards a bus stop, I saw an elderly woman and a young woman apparently waiting casually for a bus and a middle-aged man apparently waiting even more casually for a bus, in that he was lying down, in the middle of the day.

As I reached the bus stop I glanced at the bloke, still lying down, and thought that he'd obviously had a big night. Two steps past him, suddenly an ambulance, a truck and a car all screeched to a halt at the bus stop simultaneously and myriad people jumped out. It was at that point the elderly lady, previously casually waiting at the bus stop, burst into hysterics and starting crying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry". Various people from the car and the truck also burst into hysterics or started comforting the elderly lady or the young lady or each other. The bloke, however, just continued to lie there motionless, although the chaps from the ambulance were now milling around him, although not in a way that suggested they were in a rush.

I just looked at the scene, thought "how odd", and kept walking. 100 metres later, I stopped, realising that I had most probably just been within 1/2 metre of a dead body. I recounted this scene later to friends and they were convinced that I had in fact witnessed a show being filmed, what with the casual attiude of the women prior to the arrival of the car/truck/ambulance and then the simultaneous arrivals/hysterics. Not having spotted a film crew in the vicinity I rejected that possibility.

I still think back to that day and wonder about the circumstances. Why were the women at the bus stop looking so casual prior to the arrival of the vehicles, what had happened to the man, and, for my own sake, why did it take some time to sink in that I had seen a dead body and just walked past it.
(Hammer of Justice, Sun 2 Mar 2008, 1:25, Reply)