Broken Hearts
Rush hour. Rainy October evening in Portland, Oregon. Chain of white headlights and red tail lights stopped on every street. Incessant wiper beat on windshields: thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk.
Drivers impatient at intersections, as if poised for a starter’s gun to fire.
Jeff Garner, public defender, over-worked and over-stressed after losing a tough trial. Stopped at a red light downtown on Burnside Avenue. Ready to be home. A bit less observant than usual. A little more impatient. Didn’t wait for the intersection to clear before he jumped the green light.
A truck on Broadway, the cross street, bore down. That driver figured he had plenty of time before traffic started up the other way, even though the light was yellow and he had a distance to go. Didn’t want to wait for anoth
