So, I woke up dead this morning. Well, not me, but my namesake, another Alexander Pickett. Another 27-year-old Alexander Pickett.
I got a call this morning from the Creative Loafing HQ after our HR director received some calls about the fellow Pickett, who died last night after jumping off the Gulfport Pier. According to news reports, this man was relaxing with friends and family when he decided to jump into the Gulf. He quickly lost control of the situation and had trouble keeping his head above water. Bystanders and friends jumped in to save him, but he went under and never came back up. Authorities recovered his body about five hours later, 50 feet from where he jumped.
Sad story. My condolences go out to his family. Us Alexander Picketts are good, decent people.
Of course, this is the only other Alexander Pickett I've ever heard about. Search my name on Google and you pretty much come up with me. Search my full name, "Alexander Pickett," and you'll come up with references to an actor. I can't find a MySpace page for the dude. No other info on him except for these news reports.
The whole situation is a little surreal, seeing my/his name and age. And living in the same county as me. I keep reading the news reports, my name popping out every time. I wonder if he read Creative Loafing and saw my/his name. I wonder if he hated that, or if he used it to get the ladies. I wonder if I would've ever met him and whether we'd be great drinking buddies, just because we share the name.
I was just on that pier a month ago. I remember thinking, "I wonder how deep this water is?" I've definitely done some dangerous stunts like smoking salvia and agreeing to be waterboarded. And those are just the ones you read about.
Reminder: Call grandma and save her from a Times-induced heart attack.
Just got another e-mail from someone wondering if I’m alive. It’s touching. Thanks everyone. Sorry, folks, but you can’t get rid of me that easily.
I'm going to keep looking into who this guy was (maybe there will be a photo released?). But in the meantime, tonight, I think I'll celebrate. Just because I'm alive.
