January 7, 2009

Where are the police?!

OK...so, Virginia and I are driving through downtown Houston the other day, right? I don't recall what we were doing or where we were going/coming from...that's really irrelevant. I'm driving and stopped at a red light, waiting to turn right, when V notices an older lady driving a little Chevy S-10 attempting to parallel park just ahead of us at the corner. Well, the parking area there was a little inset space (inset into the sidewalk, so that it's off the main street)...large enough to hold about 3 vehicles and do so with room to maneuver.

Well, there was only one other vehicle already parked there and it was parked at the very rear of the inset. This lady was obviously having a difficult time, because she was clutching her steering wheel as if it were the last loaf of bread and government cheese the Depression-era ever handed out and whipping her head to and fro in an attempt to see what she was doing, but looking more like she was being slapped around by the Invisible Man. She also could not steer or maneuver in any recognizable manner whatsoever. She had pulled all the way onto the curb at the HEAD of the inset before making her retraction into the large empty area behind her and in front of the other car. She started backing up but for some reason turned her wheel in the opposite direction so that the tail of her truck began poking out even more into the street.

*I must point out, that by this time the light had turned green and we pulled forward, made our right turn, and then parked right there so that we could watch this spectacle.

Anyway, she obviously didn't see this or for that matter...ANYTHING...because she backed right into the car that was parked there. This didn't serve as a deterrent to the woman, however, and she shifted gears and pulled forward (and back onto the front curb, I might add). Reversing yet again, she begins the slow and agonizing journey back the 50 or so feet she had to work with until she felt comfortable with her position. By the way, she was only comfortable with her position after no LESS than three forward and reverse maneuvers similar to the first one. Of course, looking back at her from where we were...we could see her truck head-on and it was still as crooked as the Joker from the new Batman movie, let me tell ya. But, in her defense, she did NOT hit the car again. We sat there for a minute longer, as she got out of her truck and walked into the building in front of her...never even giving a glance to the car she had hit. We were amazed.

V turns to me and says, "Should we report this?" I confirmed that we should try, at least, because it was obvious the lady was not planning to take action and/or responsibility for hitting the car. Besides, I thought, if she gets a ticket maybe it will make her (or her family) think twice about driving again...it was obvious she didn't have any business on the streets. We looked around all four corners where we were and nothing. Virginia takes out a pad and writes the license plate number and description of the vehicle as I get out and survey for police officers. Now, this is DOWNTOWN Houston...and ANY other time, we would see no less than two or three cops. There would be one or two in a car parked at the corner ahead of us, or there would be an equine officer riding down the sidewalk behind us, something! Nope...nothing. We got back in the car and drove off, now just a block or two from our building and entrance to the underground garage. There is ALWAYS a cop at the block just beyond this, because there is a little "dollar" convenience store and there are always beggars and/or homeless hanging out there. Was there a police officer there THIS time...of course not.

All I can say is...it pissed me off. LOL More than the lady backing into the car and ignoring it. More than 75% of Houston drivers who act like a little rain falling from the sky is the 3rd sign of the Apocalypse and therefore have to slow down to no faster than 15 mph on the freeway, so they can stick their head on their dash and look towards the heavens. Even more than the homeless man who begged me for money, but when I handed him a WHOLE Subway sandwich he cussed me and told me he didn't want my damn sandwich..."I don't want your damn food...I asked you for change!" were his exact words. Yes, it really made me mad. Had I turned without flashing my blinker, or had I honked at the driver ahead of me in road rage, there would have been a cop there to either pull me over or look at me sternly as if I were a nuisance to his quiet time...but this one time when we actually WANTED a police officer, none could be found. Figures.

1 comment:

  1. Of course one wasn't around; that's the way it always worked. Just like when I get pulled over for something little like an expired registration sticker but they guy who ran the stop light 2 lights back is scott free.

    ReplyDelete

Throw me a rope!