Well, yet another chapter in this crappy book called “The Year 2020″…
On September 4, my longtime friend and co-worker, Daniel “Crusher” Harris was killed when his motorcycle collided with an oncoming pickup truck on Cathedral Oaks in Goleta.
I met Daniel when he was a janitor for my Texas Instruments office building. I was responsible for managing the office space, so I was a sort of supervisor for him, but that was not much of a task as Daniel took a lot of pride in his work — sometimes he would make him come into the kitchen after he did a deep clean it so I could admire the spotless floors and counters.
We eventually became friends, going out for pizza or tacos and taking motorcycle rides up to Cold Springs Tavern or doing the big Christmas motorcycle ride from Carpenteria to Goleta. We were always a bit of an odd couple since he was a big burly guy who rode a big hog and made friends wherever he went, and of course, I was the opposite. I remember sometimes walking with him during lunchtime and having to stop at least a half dozen times so Daniel could talk to old friends, new friends, people he knew, and people he wanted to meet. He simply overpowered people with his charm and friendliness and for sure that was true for me.
Daniel had a somewhat checkered past – run-ins with the law, drinking, and more – and he was always very open and candid about that. Over time, I saw him make some bad decisions, but never mean or spiteful ones.
For a simple man, he could be surprisingly full of contradictions. He had less than just about anyone I know, but he was generous to a fault. He was proud of his looks even to the point of vanity, but his attention was always outwards to other people, frequently complimenting them. He had no career to speak of, but he was passionate about the work he did.
His life fell down a few years ago, but he was doing great lately with a new job and seemed to pretty happy. Perhaps that’s a better time for something like this to happen rather than when he was down and struggling. But he will be missed by a lot of people, and for sure by me.
