PARKING WOES
July 18th, 2009 by | Posted in Life Comments Off on PARKING WOES
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In early sixties, a bicycle was my mode of transport to school, market and back. I used to drive it downtown almost everyday. Those days the streets wore a deserted look.
Slowly the volume of traffic increased and so did the parking woes! All modes of transport multiplied and the once wide roads became narrow ‘No Parking’ boards sprouted everywhere and the ‘parking lot’ could hardly accommodate a dozen cars at a time. This resulted in total chaos.
We stay in an apartment on the first floor. One evening, I was approaching the parking lot where one slot was available. I heard someone impatiently honking the horn behind me. I allowed him to overtake my car. Lo and behold, that Johnny took a sharp left, almost blocking my path, and parked his car in the only available slot and I was left high and dry. Then I saw that there was a phone number written on his rear window shield with the words ‘Used Cars for Sale’. I memorized the number.
Few minutes later I found a vacant slot and parked the car. Once upstairs, I jotted the phone number on to my note sheet, for posterity.
I had bought six beer glasses from the market and when I reached home I found that one of them had a hairline crack. Next day I went to the shop to return the pack but the shopkeeper refused. I had his phone number on the cash memo.
I called the ‘cars for sale’ fellow saying that I was interested in a good used car. He gave me his residential address to see the cars parked there. I called him again and said “Sir, I am calling from the telephone department. Have you installed the caller ID yet? ‘No, I don’t need it’, the jerk barked.. Happy that he did not have a caller ID, I shouted – ‘you lousy idiot’. He was howling – who’s this, who’s this calling? I disconnected.
I called up the glasses shop owner and called him “you lousy idiot’. I repeated this conversation with both individuals to get things to boiling temperatures. On the third occasion the ‘cars for sale’ fellow shouted – “where the hell are you. I am coming there right now and will bloody well set you right’ “Come on I said, I am waiting,” I gave him the address of the glass shop owner.
Then I called the glass shop owner – “You lousy idiot. I am on my way to set you right.” I heard him shouting obscenities and disconnected.
Satisfied, I came out in the front balcony. After few minutes I saw the ‘car for sale’ fellow racing downtown.
And then I called 100. Two minutes later, I saw the Police Patrol Car going in the same direction.
I was my turn to smile. 🙂
Ravi Matah
Tags: Abuses, Addresses, Beer Glasses, Car Parking, Chaos, Shop keeper, Telephone numbers, Traffic, Traffic Jams
