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Monday, December 17, 2007

Car Fire BAD, Cell Phone GOOD!

I wonder if I’m getting old. I mean does having a problem with the dumb ass things that young folks do make me an old fart, maybe. Anyway here’s what happened. I’m going home after a late class. It’s about 10 pm. I’m cruising down the highway and up ahead I see a car on fire off to the side of the road. The smoke is so thick that cars that don’t change lanes disappear in the smoke. I watched their tail lights just vanish. I can see that the flames are already at the center of the under carriage and the interior is illuminated. I don’t see anyone inside or getting out. I figure that this thing is going blow at any moment. There weren’t any emergency vehicles on the scene, but as I passed the car I saw another vehicle up ahead and off to the side. I pulled over at what I assumed was a safe distance. My cell phone was in the trunk of my car so I had to exit my car to fetch it. I grabbed my purse out of my trunk, hopped back in my car and started digging for the phone. Just then, I see a figure moving towards me from the car up ahead. The young man is talking on his cell phone and I roll down my window to ask if everyone is ok. I hear him talking to someone, I assume the police, because he is giving the highway information. He says, “Yeah man the flames are just shooting up everywhere.”
I asked, “Is there anyone still in the car?
“No, I got him out he’s down there.”
“You talking to the cops?”
“No.”
I pause….. a bit taken aback. Mentally, I ‘m running down a laundry list. Who would I be calling if my car were on fire? Whom would it be more beneficial to be engaged in a conversation with? Hmmm….. I ask again, “Are you talking to the police?”
“No. Are you gonna call them?”
“Well I have to dig for my phone and yours is in your hand.” I answer.
He was thinking about my answer when two additional members of the crew joined him at my window. They too were carrying on conversations on their cell phones. Once again, I’m trying to establish the basics, who is talking to the authorities and whose car is it. There was some confusion as to the car’s owner. “Him” and everybody pointing fingers was the answer.
“How do I do that?”
“Call the cops,” I queried.
“Yeah.”
“Dial 911.”
“That all.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
YOU DAIL 911 YOU STUPID FUCK!!!!
Of course, I did not say that on the outside. On the inside, I’m thinking these guys are wearing nice clothes, driving late model cars, even if one of them was on fire, and they are holding onto expensive electronic devices. It didn’t seem fair to me. Here I was in my 10 year old Honda, a poor student with a mortgage. What to do, what to do.
“Look, I think you guys have this under control and I’ll leave you to it. BYE!”
I drove away. My conscience got the best of me by the time I reached my exist, and I dialed 911 myself. The operator told that they had just received the call, and that they were on their way. I apologized for bothering her, and she laughed and said not at all. I figure she just got off the line with the three stooges I left down the road.

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