CAUSE I CAN’T STAND NOT KNOWING WHY SHIT HAPPENS.

WHEN I WAS A KID I READ A TON OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND SMITHSONIAN AT THE LIBRARY CAUSE I HAD TO STAY THERE AFTER SCHOOL WHILE MY DAD WORKED. THERE WAS A LOT IN THERE ABOUT HOW BIG EVENTS HAPPENED—LIKE THE TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGE DISASTER, AND THE CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKES IN THE NINETIES, AND THAT ONE THING WHERE A WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD BLEW THE FUCK UP DOWN IN GUADALAJARA.

A LOT OF IT WAS ALL, WOE, THIS IS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY, BUT THERE WAS ENOUGH “AND THIS IS WHY IT HAPPENED” THAT I STARTED LOOKING THAT SHIT UP DELIBERATELY. ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION. HOW THINGS WORK AND WHY THEY GO WRONG.

I WAS INTO PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING. BuT IN uNI I REALIZED JuST HOW FuCKING BORING. MY FuTuRE CAREER WOuLD BE.

SO I CONSIDERED ALTERNATIVES.

MOSTLY INVOLVING DEMOLITION WORK.

HE LIKES BLOWING SHIT UP.

AND HOW.

I RAN INTO A CONSuLTING INVESTIGATOR FOR A BuILDING COLLAPSE. AT ONE OF OuR SITES. HE WAS DOING RESEARCH ON DEMOLITION METHODS. AND HOW BuILDINGS FALL DOWN.

WE ENDED uP TALKING. FOR A LONG TIME.

HE GAVE ME HIS CARD.

IS THAT HOW BRITS SAY IT?

SHuT uP. SO. SOME MONTHS LATER. I WAS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FuCKING SICK. OF MY JOB. AND I GAVE HIM A CALL. HE SAID, BE uP HERE WITH A HARD HAT AND WORK BOOTS. TOMORROW AT SEVEN.

THAT WAS PRETTY MuCH IT.

WE LIKE TO KNOW HOW THINGS WORK. THAT’S PRETTY MUCH THE PRELIMINARY REQUIREMENT FOR ANY INVESTIGATOR: TOTAL FUCKING CURIOSITY. IF YOU ARE GENUINELY INTERESTED IN FINDING THINGS OUT, AND YOU ARE OKAY WITH LONG HOURS AND NO SLEEP AND SHITTY FOOD AND SERIOUSLY GROSS CONDITIONS AND LITTLE TO NO APPRECIATION FROM THE PUBLIC, I CAN WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND A CAREER IN ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION.

WHAT HE SAID.