Article on TheNervousBreakdown.com about memorial service for pilot, businessman Doug Sharratt - By N.L. Belardes

Doug Sharratt Memorial Service, Bakersfield, Calif.

I posted the article, "An Orange Truck, Doug Sharratt’s Memorial And A Few Good Men" on TheNervousBreakdown.com. Here's an excerpt. Feel free to go to leave a comment on the full article.

Excerpt:

An orange truck came speeding south on H Street. My kid Landen, 17, said, “There’s that orange truck. I see it everywhere. It’s following me.” He was half joking, but it’s true. I recognized the orange truck’s driver. He lives with his wife in a little bungalow on Blanche Street, close to St. Francis of Assisi church.

Sometimes I see the same person everywhere. There’s a disfigured man who seems to haunt me. He passes on a bus, walks past on streets. He once roamed campuses while I attended local colleges. He appears in libraries and grocery stores—even on Internet sites. I’ve seen him for nearly 20 years and have pointed him out. He’s everywhere.

It’s strange because other paths seem to never cross even though people live in the same town.

A few minutes before seeing the orange truck I saw many teary faces in St. Francis Church. Doug Sharratt’s memorial service had just ended. There were faces I hadn’t seen in months. Some of them probably watched me on ABC23 (KERO) while I spoke about the Internet twice a day. But I never saw them. All I ever saw was a camera, reporters, cameramen, producers, monitors, my old fishbowl office. Yet, out in the community was a sea of faces looking at me like detectives through one of those fancy interrogation room windows.

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This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on Thursday, July 31, 2008. You can leave your response.