Because I am usually burning the midnight hours aimlessly surfing the Internet and watching Infomercials, I make it a point never to get up before 9. This morning, I made what turned out to be a poor decision and got up to see Sunset Bowl be demolished.

My reason was simple; I wasn’t here to see the Kingdome demolished a few years ago and have felt a deep and dark void in my life ever since that time. I vowed that this time would be different.

I arrived in time for sunrise, grabbed a coffee at the Safeway across the street, and arrived with  chocolate donut still smooshed on my lips. There were about 15 or 20 people there milling around, most of whom were former employees. The contractor arrived in a big fancy Subaru station wagon and let us into the building to salvage what remained (which was absolutely nothing after the auction), and look around. 

It took two minutes before I realized that I was completely claustrophobic and did not want to hang out inside a looted bowling alley, which is strange because that was previously number four  on my bucket list. 

After I waited outside and chatted with a Grandmother for four minutes, everyone else  filed out. I was informed that the wrecking ball would not be used and that a Cat would be used  instead. I envisioned some angry driver repeatedly driving the Cat into the building, which I imagined would be a great way to alleviate angst. Someone proudly displayed a concrete-laden Safeway club card they had salvaged from the inside.

Then, I waited. And waited some more. Friends and new acquaintances came and went and I decided to head to the local Quife (QFC) for some freebies, but there was absolutely nothing to eat because it was too early. Bummer. I went instead thru the McD’s Drive-thru and forced down some kind of McMuffin thing-a-ma-jig.

I went back and the 15 or 20 people had dwindled to 4 or 5. I was starting to have the sneaking suspicion that the Ballard Sunset Demolition had been delayed with the specific intention of foiling me from fulfilling my goal of watching an important icon get crushed into nothingness. I know that sounds a little paranoid, but it was probably the effects of the McDonald’s on my brain. Unable to wait any longer, I went home, and was informed four hours later that the demolition had begun.