On Wednesday, driving to a client site (aka a mate of a mate who wanted a program debugged), I encountered what in TCWF‘s younger days was called a Moron Of The Week. A little old lady, obviously not fully grasping the whole concept of footpath versus road, had decided to cross (on foot) a roundabout – diagonally. This was at a time when at least two cars other than mine were approaching said roundabout with the intention of using it in the way that cars normally do.
Quite frankly, she caught me by surprise. Not so much surprise that she landed on my bonnet and single-handedly shot my insurance premium through the stratosphere, but enough surprise that I didn’t even think to honk or raise my hand in that kind of "what the hell are you doing?" pose I occasionally use.
She looked defiant, I’ll give her that. Maybe she’d been crossing there since before the widespread adoption of the infernal combustion engine. That doesn’t make it sensible behaviour though.
So do me a favour. If your granny or great aunt or someone lives in the vicinity of Tennyson Street, Elwood, just have a word to them. Ask them about roundabouts and the fine art of being a pedestrian, and just make sure that they have enough skills in that area to ensure that whatever they die of, it’s not being kersplatted all over someone’s car.
