Dog Plunge

Here’s a headline, printed on a page that’s been visible in the old newspaper bin for a few days now: “Dog tumbles off overpass onto car; driver dies.” (Chicago Tribune, January 20, Section 1, p. 11.) Talk about wrong place, wrong time.

The victim of this truly freak accident had a curious name, too: Charles Jetchick. Jetchick sounds like the on-line handle of a footloose flight attendant. A quick Google of Mr. Jetchick reveals that the story, which started off in the Detroit papers, is very popular. He might even make News of the Weird.

He was 81, so we know he had a long life. We can hope was an interesting one as well, up until the moment when a canine with momentum crashed through his windshield. But we can’t know that, can we? If he was really unfortunate, his death was the most interesting thing that ever happened to him.