Today was an interesting day – I’m not quite sure interesting is the right word to use. Remember when I mentioned that driving around here is sort of an adventure? Today raised it to a whole other level.
Picture this – you are stuck in traffic, watching your petrol dwindle (it is the rarest commodity around here these days) when you feel a nudge – someone has just bumped your car from behind! You get out to vent your frustrations and check the damage, and instead of apologising, the people in the car behind you, all male and scruffy looking, tell you to bugger off and go move your car. Since you are somewhat civilised (I like to think that I am) you just wave a hand in displeasure and turn to head back in your vehicle. As you get in one of them comes out and bangs on your car – and wait for it – HE HAS A GUN!
Needless to say I didn’t try to argue with him as I drove off. My colleague in the car was sure they were robbers, I thought they might have been police – such is the society we live in where it is quite hard to distinguish between them.
So we finish what we went to do – to replenish the said dwindling commodity – and are about to head home when hey presto! Here comes the same car doing a U-turn, almost ramming into an oncoming vehicle. Guess what happens next? One of the guys jumps out of the car and next thing you know -GUNSHOTS!!!
The reaction of other drivers (after a moment of freezing in place) gave a whole new meaning to defensive driving with cars changing direction faster than I could blink. We decided that it was in our best interest to take a longer more circuitous route home rather than run into them again.
It was like a scene out of a mafia movie – sadly steeped in the reality that there is little or no value placed on life in these parts anymore. People’s lives have been cut short by such random senseless acts – both by criminals and those who vowed to protect them from harm. Politics is assumed to, and more often than not, equate to violence and insecurity.
As I turn in for the night, I shudder to think how badly things could have gone today…interesting really doesn’t capture it.
stayingabovethewaves 