(The counter-post to On The Train.)
Friday lunchtime, Bourke Street.
A car, let’s call it car A, waits in the tram lane to turn right. There’s no traffic coming the other way, but he sits there, for no apparent reason. A tram comes up behind, with perhaps 100 people on it. On their behalf, the tram driver dings at car A, which starts its turn to move out of the way. The tram goes past, now car A is perpendicular to the traffic. With some manoevring he finishes doing a U-turn. Now he’s double-parked.
Another car, B, is double-parked in front of him. They both sit there.
Car C is at the kerb, trying to get out. Blocked by the two double-parked A and B, who both want his space.
For a minute or two, they engage in a little posturing. Forward a few inches, back a few inches. The driver of car B gets out of his car, walks back to car A and gesticulates with some enthusiasm, then gets back in his car. More car posturing, as I watch in amazement. Car C is going nowhere, and some traffic is banking up behind them, some is dodging around them.
After another minute, the driver of car A takes a moment out from his lunchtime road rage to look across the street, where another space has appeared. He executes another quick U-turn, and parks there. Car C gets out, car B takes his place.
And everyone’s happy. Well, actually those two idiots are probably fuming, but hey, I got free lunchtime entertainment, so I’m happy.
5 replies on “In the street”
it constantly amazes me how many inconsiderate drivers there are, good case for compulsary re-testing every 5-10 years.
Reminds me of an old joke. There was a vacant parking space. An old bloke in a new Mercedes was ready to reverse in when a young bloke in a zippy car drove into the space. The young bloke called out, “It is great to be young and quick pops”. The old bloke put his car in reverse and rammed into the upstarts car and stepped out and said, “It is great to be old and rich”. Written, the joke is even worse than when told.
And this is why we never drive in the city, folks. *L*
On problem with testing is it does not detect whether you are a decent, considerate, person. Only if you can drive a ton or 2 of steel in a straight line. What we need is ‘decency’ tests that cover things like turning indicators off after changing lanes, allowing people to merge, correct use of high beam, etc… Can’t see it happening tho, mores the shame.
I was attempting to get petrol this morning, there were two cars at the pumps. There was another car and me waiting. The two guys were just standing chatting for about two minutes, before I honked. Then one of ’em flipped me a bird. Oh yeh, I’M the rude one…. geesh.