I have a daily ritual. Every workday at 12:30 I’m picked up by my roommate and we dash to Starbucks for matching Iced Vanilla Chai Latte’s before driving around until we each finish our afternoon cigarette. It’s a nice break in the day and it gives us the opportunity to chit-chat and exchange horror stories about our respective mornings.
So today we grab Starbucks and begin weaving through the Scottsdale Air Park business district just like every day. We drive through small streets and cut back through Scottsdale Rd. This particular stretch of Scottsdale Rd. includes a family oriented mini-golf and driving range called CrackerJax.
In front of this CrackerJax, facing Scottsdale Rd, there is a small roadside memorial. A black cross with the name “Aaron Lopez” emblazoned on the front. It’s been there for about 7 months and I never thought too much of it. Those of you who are familiar with the Valley will understand that North Scottsdale is not given to homemade displays of grief or rememberance. It’s a fairly upscale if not outright snooty area of town that generally despises anything that isn’t chock full of bland southwestern flavor. That said, the cross was allowed to remain in front of the goofy golfing portion of CrackerJax.
Today as we’re driving down Scottsdale Rd, I happen to glance at the small display commemorating the life and (probably) untimely death of a stranger named Aaron Lopez and see this.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen… that is a HAND sticking out of the ground in front of his poor sod’s memorial cross. Someone has also applied a goodly amount of spraypaint to the sidewalk, most of which I didn’t manage to catch in the camera phone picture I managed to snap on the way by.
I can’t decide if these jokers were friends who were commemorating a fellow prankster or if someone is just unbelievably cruel with nothing better to do on New Years Eve.
Chandler is a pretty good cross section of the Valley, really. Little bit of ghetto, little bit of suburbia. North Scottsdale is home to places like Kierland’s Ocean Club where Paula Abdul :rolleyes: can sometimes be found enjoying light sushi and diet water.
The sprocket look like the big ring off a road bicycle. I would guess that Mr. Lopez was creamed by a car while riding his bike.
I have a friend in Chandler, and she won’t go near the street with her bike, she says the drivers aim for bike riders.
I’ve driven by the cross two more times and am unable to identify anything Nazi-esque. My vote is for a zombie hand climbing out of a grave. I’ve commissioned my roommate to snap a picture of it with her new digital camera. I’ll post a higher res shot soon.
I’ll also grab a high res shot of Jenna Jameson if I happen to run into her.
Guess it’s a genuine memorial, but whether the hand was a random prank, or some kind of “he would have appreciated this!” gesture by a friend, who can say? Kind of funny, though.
