#where are they you ask? running toward your location at 100mph

[guardianscry]

Worn out

For day 5 of Hatstache week, ‘Hurt/recovery” ^^ @hatstacheweek

[demerso3]

Regarding Vehicles, Pedestrians, and the “Right of Way”

Last Monday, I was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car at a Chick-Fil-A parking lot in Kentucky.  The vehicle was parked facing towards a busy road, such that I could see passing traffic.  Both the Chick-Fil-A parking lot and road were located at an intersection.  The road had no sidewalks running alongside it, nor did the road contain a bike lane or anything like that.  There was, however, a strip of grass available to walk on.  Despite the lack of safety nets for pedestrians, two people (a man and a woman, who I presume to be a couple, and will discuss later on) were walking directly in the road, on the Chick-Fil-A side, at what could not even be described as a brisk pace.  

Most vehicles continuing through the intersection and down the road were very accommodating towards these two individuals.  Almost everyone slowed down, and some even moved out of the way as best they could.  Mind you, traffic was travelling down both sides of the road, so some cars couldn’t give too much space to the pedestrians without possibly crashing into vehicles travelling in the opposite direction.  Although the pedestrians were putting themselves in an unnecessarily dangerous situation, traffic was willing to compromise with the decision these pedestrians had made.  

One vehicle, however (a red truck driven by a man of approximately the same age as the pedestrians) slowed down, honked, and glared at the walkers.  He raised one arm up as he drove by the pedestrians, as if to ask, “what the hell are you doing?”  

Of course, the pedestrians could not have this.  The male pedestrian flipped the driver off as he accelerated away, while the woman cried, “asshole!”  The man embraced the woman, grabbing her lower back and pulling her in, letting the woman know that he was there to protect her.  This is entirely ironic, considering not letting your girlfriend walk in the street would have been better protection.    

It is difficult for me to articulate the frustration I have not so much for their decision to walk in the road, but for their audacity in getting mad at the driver of the truck.  And I’ve seen similar situations throughout my life, in various parts of the United States and abroad.

One could justifiably argue that roads need to be more pedestrian-friendly.  However, such an argument is independent from the empirical fact that the road in question (and many like it) aren’t.  Given that, it is best to avoid walking near busy roads without sidewalks whenever possible.  If impossible, stick to the side of the road and watch vigorously for traffic - but certainly, never walk in a busy street as if you own the place.  And yet, that’s exactly what this couple decided to do.    

The lack of self-awareness, frankly, is astonishing.  If anything, the driver should have been saying that the pedestrians were the buttholes, not only for slowing down traffic, but for disregarding their personal safety, as well as the safety of those around them.  People seem to forget that automobiles are not self-aware machines capable of making precise, life-saving decisions on a whim (at least, not yet).  Cars, trucks, SUV’s, etc. are all operated by humans, who are imperfect creatures, and have bad judgment at times.  Moreover, people also appear to forget that automobiles weigh multiple tons, and can travel in excess of 100mph.  In other words, things can go south quickly for both a driver and pedestrian, even when defensive driving practices are utilized.    

This leads me to my next point, in that people too often use their “right of way” as an excuse to let their guard down in the face of danger.  In the aforementioned example, the pedestrians had no right of way - that is, they had no legal ground for being in the street; no recognized process or “rule of the road” to abide by.  Therefore, their behavior can be considered particularly egregious.  However, even when pedestrians are completely in the right, they can still be dumb.  

Put simply, one cannot argue his “right of way” when dead.  This is why it always puts me on edge when a friend begins to cross the street before a car begins to slow down, or when somebody is confident the driver of a vehicle knows what they’re doing.  In the past, when a good friend or relative has almost been hit by a car despite having the right of way, they act surprised.  “Hey, he can’t do that!”  Well, the car can, and did, because of its size, in conjunction with the (hopefully momentary) stupidity of the driver.  Why would anyone trust that the driver of a vehicle is going to make all the right decisions?       

We have yet to address the possibility of impaired drivers, perhaps the #1 reason to take one’s “right of way” with a grain of salt.  On a personal note, during my senior year of high school, my cross country coach died in an auto-pedestrian accident.  The driver was drunk, and is currently serving an 18 year prison sentence for the crime.  Initially, I was reluctant to include this detail here, as the context for the accident was vastly different from the anecdote described at the beginning of this blog post.  Nonetheless, I think it serves to show the inherent danger of a world where pedestrians and vehicles coexist.  Despite the tragic events surrounding my coach’s death, alongside many others like his, many people, in my estimation, do not take moving vehicles seriously enough.  It is the classic “that will never/can never happen to me,” until it does.    

Regardless, if you’re a driver, look out for pedestrians.  If you’re a pedestrian, look out for cars, and never walk/stand in the street where cars are passing by.  Be smart, not selfish, about the way you conduct yourself near streets.               

[bobbyvatsauniverse]

The night that was not right

(A FICTIONAL STORY BEARS NO RESEMBLANCE TO ANYONE. (SCRIPT FOR SALE. INTERESTING PARTIES MAY CONNECT TO BUY).

Genre: Thriller

Mr.X always takes his time out for his favorite windy place in the neighborhood. All his friends know about the parking lot, that has gathered its popularity for its ideal location which is clean, windy and the solitude it provides for the group of friends, sitting to unwind and to gulp some beers.

The only issue is the police van or jeeps, patrolling the upmarket parking lot to keep a tab on these friendly groups, preferring this parking lot more than a coffee shop.

X was running late  and  was rushing to reach  there as one of his friend (Y from here on) was coming from a remote end of town.X was fifteen minutes late but did not forget to tag along some beers for this reunion with a friend,who met with an accident and wanted to spend some quality time with  him. X got the parking with some other friendly groups, scattered in the desired corners of that huge parking lot. Friend Y had not reached, so X opened the first beer bottle to soothe his nerve and to flow with the music in the car with the fizz of the real barley beer introduced recently. Y called him from the way and assured him that he is reaching in some 15 minutes.X had already finished one beer by then and by default his hands reached for a fresh beer that can really liquidize the wait.

X saw a person walking on his crutches and approaching his car. This was his friend(Y),he was waiting for.

X switched on the headlight to signal him, which Y responded to with the precision of an eagle and briskly walked to end his journey in the front seat of a stationary car parked in the favorite spot of solitude called the "Yariparking lot" by many friendly groups.

Y sat in the car narrating the saga of his day and his chance meeting with a friend from abroad.X asked about his welfare and started the usual round of conversation and the beer was behaving as a constant companion. Suddenly Y  said that he has got something that all the greatest actors in the world tried and a paper, small in size, ejected from his pocket.

X was surprised to see that a small piece of paper had access to all the great artists, Y just mentioned?

X took the paper from his hand and  took a closer view of an interconnected paper with an imprinted figure of Shiva dancing over it."What's this y"?

y smiled   and spoke like Al Pacino."This is an acid strip, only for the chosen ones and the greatest". X muttered in low voice .."This freakin piece of small paper has so many qualities" ??

"Yes gentleman..yes," said Y.

"X"  thought  of that interconnected piece of paper as some kind of token or a memento to be kept and asked Y in a reticent voice "Can I keep it"

"This is to be kept on the tongue idiot if you want to feel the greatness of this esoteric stuff, but just one square out of the whole strip" roared Y.

X took out one square from the big interconnected square, which was not looking like a square after the extraction of the small square from the bigger square and put that on his tongue, which trippingly came out to chew it.

"NO, no don't chew it"shouted Y but by then that small strip of paper was en route to the beer belly of X.

"This is an acid strip and now you gonna trip to a roller coaster mentally you idiot" Y uttered on an octave

"I freakin feel noting dude," said X.

"You will" Y took another strip and kept on his tongue .." lemme reach to you" Y winked.

The flow of the beers was restored as it was brought again by a nearby late-night bar.

They came back again on the same spot ." you got a fake strip dude" said X

"Nothing is happening, I think someone conned you dude"

Y exclaimed in disbelief "How is this possible, I paid 3 grand ...." for this whatever....(interrupted X cutting him) a great piece of paper, you fool..haha".X was laughing.

"See, I am putting two not one strip of this elixir of greatness on my tongue and you will see, nothing will happen as nothing has happened. You are conned and accept it" X extracted two small squares and put on his tongue "And yes, this time, I am not going to gulp it, baby. see your stuff busted by my system". With a kind of teasing look on his face X did the intake.

Y  was just sitting silently and started gulping the beer. "Go slow you alcoholic" roared X.

"See nothing happened," said X."Can you SEE the cop car coming towards us? "  Y said in the alarming voice.

A police gypsy halted and a torch was flashed towards them.

"Come Out of the Car," Said a heavy sound behind the torch.

"I told you that this parking was never a safe place.i just came out of the hospital for this ? to be caught by the police" Y was kind of sobbing in his tone and looked at X

X retorted "Police can never catch me because I am not gonna ruin our party," X said with James bond \jason strong voice and started the ignition.

"Stop, stop catch these basts "...and the Ford sped past the gypsy.

Police started chasing them and were right behind their car.

X took a sharp turn and entered a labyrinthine lane of the nearby coastal village. Police followed suit.

X was not knowing about any direction and was speeding his car in the narrow lane. Suddenly there was  a lane going right and another straight."Which side. Right or straight ??.. TELL ME" X SHOUTED.

"TAKE A RIGHT" Y shouted back and  X took the right turn and was driving on approx 100mph in a narrow lane. Nothing obstructed them and suddenly they saw a road opening to the main road. There were dim lights following them still but now Ford was opening up to cruise on a jet speed. Suddenly X started laughing and said, "Now I will show you how a car is driven".

No, NO NO...you are hit by the strip and beer and its a lethal combo.NO NO NO ..Y was shouting at a note higher than Mariah Carey but it was all in vain.

The car came on the highway and was speeding .Y was continuously shouting on X."You don't have the experience to handle it. This is a triple dose of acid .you gonna die. I am also gonna die you bastard. Have you gone mad?" Y was still screaming in vain.

They reached a locality called Bandra (a posh suburban location) from a suburb called Andheri in dot seven minutes.

Suddenly a car came to a screeching halt. "I need to call Poonam," said X

"You are not doing that..Y yelled.

The female voice could be felt clearly on the other side of the phone at around 3.45 in the otherwise silent and peaceful night.

'Do you know baby, the entire police department is looking for me "said X." Where are you? "said the voice on the phone.

"Carter road coffee shop..well it is closed".said X.

"Please go home, dear. Grow up .grow up..you are not a kid" said the voice.

"Sure sweetheart, my friend has come from Chembur, after dropping him, I will go back home. Bye!!" X disconnected.

"I FREAKING DON'T STAY THERE(CHEMBUR). WHY YOU ARE GOING THERE" Y was still shouting.

Come, buddy, you are meeting  me for the first time after a long time and the night has just begun"

X switched on the car again and disappeared leaving the empty roads behind.

The black ford was racing on a heartbreaking speed and suddenly Y expressed the bladder rush due to excessive use of liquid barley beverage called beer and requested X to stop the car. The car came to the side of the road with the flurry of the traffic passing beside them X,, sitting on the driver's seat. (different sounds of different vehicles crossing the driver's seat window and X could see Y making his way to nearby bushes to relieve him of the bladder rush and was slowly making his way on the crutches. Headlights were the companion to make him find a spot in the bushes. As he reached the right spot, Y signaled X to switch off headlights to facilitate the privacy for deflating his bladder.

In the meantime, X realized that something was lying under the seat and as he extended his hand to figure out. I t was another hot bottle of the beer, might have rolled its way under the seat. X opened the beer using his teeth and gulped some sips of hot beer down the throat.

Y was back and as he tried to settle down on the seat, a police bike stopped beside the driver's window and the first thought that came to their mind that police were still following them. The policeman was from other jurisdictions of the city and they realized for the first time that they were in Chembur.An area very very far from there starting point i.e the carpark from where it all started.

The cop informed them that they have entered a no-entry zone drunk so they got to follow him to the police station in some "Anu shakti. Nagar"

Y was getting frustrated as he never wanted his birthday to be celebrated like this and expressed his venom of anger on the police staff at the police station. Otherwise, after negotiating with X they were agreeing to release them by keeping the car in their custody till the next day.

Sudden hurl of not so good words by Y to the police officers resulted in police changing their decision and decided to keep both X and Y in the police lock-up.

It was beyond 4 am and police staff was parked on their seats rather than the doors of the police station and were fed with the still ongoing hurling of the shrieks from the tired vocal cords of Y.

Gradually they both slept in the lockup and by a sudden sound of a lock-up door opening. They saw a smiling officer telling them to accompany him to the court.

Both X and Y were shocked and then X cautioned Y that he gonna take on the course from here on and make sure they get out of this situation only under one condition that Y  does not speak a word and do exactly as  X says.

Seeing the horrible state of affairs Y agreed saying "I swear, I will not speak unless asked"

As they entered a premise looked like a black and white state of affairs in the world, which was not so colorful for them at that point in time.

A slim young guy ( LAWYER) came for their rescue and agreed to take over their case and said that "the judge is a very emotional man and if you can make him emotional by your story, both of you can be free citizens in few hours."

As planned X took to explain to the judge that how he wanted to make his friend Y happy on his birthday after the tragedy of his fractured bone refusing to heal even after year and a half.and his friend should be allowed to go and X proposed his arrest for the sake of his friend and all this with the Ganges of tears falling from his eyes. It worked. This moved the entire court, including the emotional judge.

The judge gave them bail and also praised X that a true friend remains in thick n thin. He ordered their release and let them go citing the special case of friendship on the grounds of humanity.

X &Y were happy, relaxed and felt like prisoners of war released after a great turmoil.

A man of nearly three and a half feet unlocked the chained car (from a lot of cars confiscated by the police) called them lucky to have escaped conviction. and laughed in a unique manner.

Both X & Y left the police station after retrieving the car.

X & Y thanked everyone, waved with beaming smiles before leaving that premise.

The ford was cruising but there was no exchange of words between X &Y as both were pondering over the turn of events.

                                                                                        Fade out.

#copyright Bobby vats