Monday, August 11, 2008

Back. Already.

Well, it was obvious from the get-go that we were back in TnT. What gave it away? Maybe the long wait in immigration as the officers tried to process everyone from the three flights on the ground at the same time; the lines were curling snakes filled with disgruntled folk. Much to my surprise, the immigration officers were generally pleasant, I guess all that customer service training might actually be paying off. Needless to say, customs was a zoo but we managed to squeak out of the airport a couple of hours after landing.

And then there was the highway. They're "working" on the highway. Paving. There is no rhyme or reason to it, you didn't know where you were because the lines were gone; there were three levels, the newly paved, the kind of paved and the scraped off paving. It was surreal, an accident waiting to happen. Ah, the joys of development.

Then there were the acts of stupidity; the road outside my house is wide enough for two cars, there is a blind corner. First came the gunning engine, the wail of tyres scrabbling for purchase on the wet road, screaming brakes, screeching of tyre on asphalt.....we waited for the inevitable CRASH into the opposing wall. Fortunately, it never came. Instead, the idiot in the blue car stalled, facing the opposite way to which he had come, blocking the lane he was in and sticking out into the other lane. In the way of the cars coming round the "blind" corner. Again, waiting for the crash, fortunately the oncoming cars managed to side step him. There was the confusion as drivers attempted to sort out what was going on. The driver of the stalled car had to make several attempts to re-start, the engine wailed as it was gunned into life and he took off down the road. Coming the other way were two more cars, both gunning their engines, racing down the road, one overtaking on the solid white line. Stupid. And then they'll say it is an accident when they damage someone else.

On the route to and from where I live, there are three overhead crossovers, built at great expense to the taxpayer, to allow residents to get from one side of the highway to the other. Does anyone use them? People still run across the street. It's too much to walk up and down the stairs. It takes too much time. Never mind for at least one of them you have to literally LEAP the concrete dividers down the middle of the road. People will attempt to cross five feet away from the walkover because it's "too far to walk". I wonder how long they think eternity is when you're lying in a coffin or permanently damaged from being hit by a fast moving vehicle. Unbelievable.

As you can see, my fleeting flip flop days are rapidly being eroded by being here, and the questions that I've been asking myself, well, lets just say my drive to work this morning made me realise....

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