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(19) Driving in Adelaide


DesDownunder

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We have our fair share of road rage. Nothing out of the ordinary, you understand, just the usual clubbing to near death with a tyre iron. Today I had the opportunity to witness a road rage event (sounds exciting doesn't it?) myself.

I must explain, owing to the bloke who sets the timing for Adelaide's numerous traffic lights thinking that 3 seconds is sufficient to enable cars to move across an intersection, we end up with cars banking up for quite a while.

The traffic today duly came to stop. The car alongside in the other lane screeched to halt as if he was late for an asshole anonymous meeting, with fists pounding on the steering wheel and then punching his dashboard. I couldn't tell what the dashboard had done wrong to receive such grievous blows from its owner. He gnashed his teeth at me as he gave me the finger. What had I done?

I watched as the lights changed to green and the traffic slowly (its Adelaide) started to move when, the lights changed to red. I stopped my car as did everyone else, except the dashboard basher. He put his foot down, accelerating until he rammed the car in front. He had "lost it" and was patently venting his rage, without due care.

Quickly he flew open his car door and then jumped onto the bonnet of his own car, bouncing up and down like an orangutan visiting a harem, shouting obscenities that could only be described as upsetting to the poor young lady in the car he had rammed. She wisely stayed inside her car.

The lights changed and I had to drive off. The thing was he had done little damage to her four-wheel drive but his old sedan was steaming and looking quite crumpled if not upset.

I watched from the rear view mirror as several people were attempting to restrain the man from his malicious wounding of his own vehicle.

It was surreal to say the least.

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I heard about that. It seems that his son was in the hospital, dying, and every minute was critical for him, to be able to say goodbye. Sadly, he never made it in time.(Just made that up, but the point is, we really don't know what is so pressing in someone else's life, but it's NOT fair to automatically assume they are all assholes.)

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I heard about that. It seems that his son was in the hospital, dying, and every minute was critical for him, to be able to say goodbye. Sadly, he never made it in time.(Just made that up, but the point is, we really don't know what is so pressing in someone else's life, but it's NOT fair to automatically assume they are all assholes.)
Right. "They are USUALLY all assholes"
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You are perfectly correct Trab. It is not right to assume someone is an asshole. At the same time he was being an asshole in his mannerisms. I had done nothing to deserve "the finger" and the point was that he did totally lose the plot in a way that was somewhat comedic in form. There was only anger emanating from him and no sign of a more emotional distress. Still you may be right that his mannerisms had been provoked by a personal tragedy.Trapped as I was in the other lane of traffic and unable to render any assistance because of the traffic conditions, I could only watch in the rear view mirror as others were trying to assist him down from his car. I did say to myself that I was pleased he was getting help. Perhaps I should have made it clearer that the comedy of the moment was in the nature of the circumstance and not in any cause of his frustration. What I really wanted to convey was the first time experience I had of watching road rage manifest itself before me and that I was helpless to do other than watch. That was quite other worldly for me. I am sorry if my highlighting of the funnier side of this man's tragedy was upsetting to you. That was not my intention.Thanks Trab, for pointing out your very valid concerns.

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Very funny! That reminds me of an episode of 'Fawlty Towers' where Basil gets out of the car and beats it with a large branch from a tree. :razz:And if you haven't seen John Cleese is Fawlty Towers, then shame on you. You don't know what you've missed. :bunny:...Not that road rage is funny. It's lucky he didn't have a gun.

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What is this show with John Cleese that you are speaking about? Because here in America, I have not heard of it. Damn these American's that don't get British humour. Damn, damn, damn. Jason R.

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Jason,Fawlty Towers is a Britcom made by the BBC and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Whilst there are lots of sites about Fawlty Towers, the Wikipedia reference is quite good at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_TowersThe series is heavily laden with sarcasm and irony that is often politically incorrect by today's standards but is enriched by its own kind of common sense, which I might add is a shiny beacon of sanity for those of us who hate being politically correct for its own sake.Each episode is a standalone vignette of classic mini-play construction that seems to escape many writers today.Fawlty Towers has been released on Video and DVD I think but you may have to search for them.If you like British humour you will love Fawlty Towers.

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