Inexplicably, my car slid sideways across College Ave into the path of oncoming traffic. The guy on the radio (live 105) shouted “There’s broken glass all over 9th street…” seconds before the station went dead. All the way down College people were streaming out of their houses, faces tight. People I recognized as natives. Native Bay Area people like to take earthquakes in stride. We smile at the freaked out newcomers and say “that was fun.” Not this one. I’ll never forget the creeping, sick feeling I had watching early helicopter footage of the Cypress freeway running through West Oakland. The anchorman ...
