THERE IS NO WHITE BRONCO . . .

Alright, I admit it, I was watching "Oprah" when the ABC News Special Report broke in with news that another helicopter had crashed in the East River (second time this week!). As I thought my first thoughts that (1) I don't really care, can we get back to "Oprah" and (2) I wonder if it was a form of terrorism, I became riveted by the scene that unfolded before me through the lens of the Eyewitness NewsCopter. Civilians leaving their cars on the northbound FDR Drive to jump the fence and run to the end of the dock near 42nd Street to try to pull people out of the water. Emergency personnel arriving on scene and rushing to the edge with stretchers, life preservers and medical equipment. People grabbing a ladder from somewhere and dropping it into the water into the arms of survivors. EMS workers performing CPR on a man lying on the ground. And then the most fascinating sight I've seen in a long time on television:

A scuba team gearing up and dropping into the water, just like in the movies.

I don't know why that was so awesome to me. I mean, it's just two dudes in wetsuits with oxygen tanks on their backs, grabbing ropes to tether to the sunken helicopter they hope to find, turning around and dropping backwards into the East River. But still. I'm totally riveted. I can't look away even long enough to properly type these words.

I guess I'm just sort of vicariously thrilled at the reality of this scene. Not the reality of the fright and excitement and tragedy, but the reality of the speed of people's responses, the willingness of strangers to leave their evening commutes and hop a ragged wire fence to save someone's life, and how quickly things can be mobilized -- when it really matters -- in this crazy, clogged-up, bureaucratic, unfeeling, jaded city of ours. Just goes to show ... the guys in scuba gear are always there for ya.

Post-script: alright, it's been twenty minutes now and my short American attention-span has failed me once again. I'm bored with the helicopter story and they drone on incessantly about it anyway. Even the scuba guys are out and dry. Forget it, I'm gonna go read a book or something.