Michele Mark Zagami writes:

> Has anybody ever tried getting into inanimate objects.
> What i mean is to completely concentrate on one object
> and try to imagine you are it. Its quite an experience.
> This morning i became a concrete slab. Devoid of feelings
> whose only purpose is to have feet walk on it. Hard, cold
> emotionless completely untroubled.

Concrete slabs are not cold or emotionless. I have interviewed several that were involved in the San Francisco quake, and the guilt they carry is very heavy--heavier, they say, than the traffic used to be. They long for the stability of a bridge, for the feeling of connectedness to other slabs, for the sense of making a useful contribution to society. Alas, these are things they will never feel again. They are truly shattered.