This is the third in the series.  Please feel free to read the first and second posts in the series.

My parent's generation has President's Kennedy's assassination.  But my generation has the OJ Simpson white Bronco chase.  I never claimed these little memories were all going to be deep and meaningful.  I just claimed to share a few memories that were impactful in my life.

I know exactly where I was standing when OJ Simpson and his guilty butt were chased in his white Bronco down the highway in California.

Every summer, my amazing high school church choir would go on tour.  And if I had to pick one giant experience (so over all four years) as my most significant from high school, choir and touring would win hands down.  That particular summer, we went out west.  The summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school.  And one hot night at a hotel in Salt Lake City, UT, we flipped on the TV to see every station covering the infamous Bronco chase. 

Of course at the time, no one had any idea what was going on or the significance of the chase.  But it was clear that this was not an ordinary cops and robbers moment.  It felt big, even then. 

We had that night free so I remember that we kept going from the pool to various rooms where the TV was covering the story.  Everyone was mesmerized and knew that in a strange way, this was important to see.

Now fast forward a few years.  I was a senior in high school.  I had saved up my two free half credits to take a full year of Home EC as a senior.  Which even looks silly as I write it but my high school was not one of those schools where people had free periods or worked in the front office or had any sort of extra time in your schedule.  It just didn't work like that at my school.  So it was a big deal to take an entire year of an elective.  And I would do it all over again.  That was one of my favorite classes.  No worries.  Just a lot of fun.  And food.  We cooked a LOT in there. 

Anyway, that's all really besides the point. 

The OJ Simpson verdict was due to come in and even teachers were turning on the classroom TVs to let students watch.  The bell rang for lunch.  Which only lasted like 18 or 20 minutes- it was impossibly short.  But they were announcing the verdict.  Everyone just stood in that Home EC classroom staring at the TV as the not guilty verdict was flashing across the screen.  I remember kids cheering in the halls.  Sort of a full circle moment for me.

Oddly, for as vivid as those two memories are, I had no real opinion of the case either way until fairly recently.  I guess when OJ wrote that book is about when I formed a strong opinion.  So I am again not sure why those two moments in time are so crystal clear today.  But for better or worse, the OJ Simpson case plays some sort of role in my little pink world.

Where were you during the white Bronco chase?