I see many people talking on their cell phones while driving or riding their bikes, and to such as these do I bring back an article from my archives: The young man driving the latest fancy car had one arm on the steering wheel and the other hugging his cell phone in an intimate embrace: “Did I wake you up?,” he asked, speaking seductively into the mouthpiece.
You know you shouldn’t phone and drive,” said the husky voice at the other end” “What are cell phones for?,” asked the young man, “if not for taking the boredom out of driving!.”
The signal in front, suddenly turned to red, but the young man with his phone pressed to his ear and his mind pressed elsewhere did not notice the change and continued driving through.
“What are you wearing?” he asked, holding his breath in anticipation and literally looking into the phone. He did not see the startled scooterist veering dangerously to avoid him.
All he felt was a thud, which he mistook for the sound of his own heart beat as he repeated the question “What are you wearing?” “Come and see,” said the husky voice at the other end.
Yes I’m coming,” said the young man accelerating his car, so that the speedometer needle started climbing up dangerously, “and I’m not going to put this phone off till I reach you.”
The other drivers on the road, in their cars and buses and trucks tried desperately to pull their vehicles quickly out of the way of the speeding car.
“Hello, hello,” said the young man, suddenly realising the phone had gone off. “Hello, sweetheart hello,” he shouted into the mouthpiece. “Damn,” he shouted, “damn,” and drove faster. An old lady with a walking stick, crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing did not see the approaching car.
She was flung up, high into the air and the crowd that gathered round her, knew that she would never need the stick again. The young man in the car only shouted deeper into his cell phone. “Hello, hello, damn, damn, damn…..”
A schoolboy, was astonished to see the car bearing down on him. He jumped out of the way in time, but not before his school bag and lunch box were scattered all over the road.
He wondered whether his father had made a mistake in telling him to cross the road when the lights were green. He decided not to obey the signals again.
Meanwhile, the young man driving the latest fancy car, one arm on the steering wheel and the other hugging his cell phone, bent down to press redial so that he could talk to his girlfriend again. His eyes were filled with anticipation…. He did not see the lorry switching lanes in front of him….
“Hello,” said the husky voice at the other end of the line, “hello,” she shouted as she heard the piercing scream and the sound of tearing metal.
“Hello,” screamed the husky voice at the other end again, but the young man one mangled arm on the smashed wheel and the other still clutching his cell phone, lay still, never to hear her again…!
