A quiet tragedy unfolds in the rain across Tuesday 4 March 2025

Fentanyl Folded Man on the E-Line bus as we barreled south down Aurora Avenue.

Fentanyl Man. Sitting on the Express bus. His head is way down just above his ankles. After I boarded the bus in South Shoreline, he was sitting halfway up in his seat. The man was weaving in place, nodding in and out, as he struggled to stay awake. Finally, inevitably, Fentanyl Man succumbed to the bliss of folding his body in half. Outside was late winter and a cold rain fell steady from low, gray clouds. The bus was cozy warm. Street traffic was light, and the bus wasn’t crowded. I was astounded, even alarmed, at how bent over the man was 

Fentanyl is a nasty, deadly, destructive drug. Many, many times more powerful than morphine, than opium, than heroin. It relaxes the body’s Central Nervous System, respiration slows, and the brain can’t even command the body to stand or sit up straight. The body buckles into oblivion so deep the user is often unaware of anything including what position their body’s in. It’s too painful to sit or stand up straight. Body becomes rigid like that. Circulation gets cramped, even cut off, the organs stay squished up, respiration slows down further, the joints are damaged, lymphatic drainage is impaired, and the immune system becomes further compromised.

About 8-10 minutes later after the bus had surged down Aurora Avenue thru North Seattle, three security guards boarded the bus near Green Lake. They made the driver wait and “nicely threw Fentanyl Folded Man off” into the cold March rain. Continue reading →