Trying to have a nice and solitary walk somewhere around downtown I stumble upon a scene that left me quizzing myself for much of the rest of the day. On the surface it appeared like a sort of David and Goliath showdown; A rather beefy cay with a shiny four wheel drive and the driver of a small car who wasn’t physically that imposing.
The scene was already heating up after some crash between the two cars. If it was up to us car mechanics-illiterate guys the culprit was the bag guy whose midsection seems a sort of art work began but never finished. (May be the artist decided one part of the body rather challenging to express fully as to create genuine pictures in people’s minds,) You know where with some flesh hanging right in front creating all kinds of problems to do justice to the jacket and also where the flesh is hanging sideways while the front looks like the shredded six pack of a body builder.
Anyways, how do they manage to do that to themselves! Whatever the diet experts tell or warn you, and there seem to be a lot of them around these days, about putting all that beef on yourself in only a few months must be a daunting task, if you do it consciously that is. This world isn’t only about those who want to lose weight; it’s also about those who want to add much more of it!
Anyway, these two guys were out of their cars and squaring up against each other and I tell you, it was some scene comical and bewildering at the same time. Especially seeing the much smaller guy all ready for whatever was to come leaves you asking questions; “Does he really think he could repel any attack from this big guy?” he was practically looking down on him as if he was staring at something on the ground! That was how visible the difference between the two was! “Could be that angry as to put his physical well-being in danger?” Despite all the tension that was building up he was a very quiet guy trying to show his emotions through his constantly changing facial features. And Goliath!
Well Goliath was on a completely different level; threatening and acting like he was some Tyson-like tough guy who could punch the daylight out of any upright walking creature. Maybe he could do just that! But by doing anything physical to a much smaller and largely skinny guy he could only prove himself as only tons of flesh with the smallest brain matter on this side of the universe. The way he was throwing his hand all around while he was letting out floods after floods of the foulest language you could hear even in the most profanity loaded films! I mean, we’re talking about a person the way he dressed makes him appear he was heading to some five-star hotel for that seven course dinner or something.
With no traffic police nearby and big guy spilled his spleen all over the place spitting out all the profanity he could think of while the crowd of onlookers gets larger by the minute. And all this time traffic was partially interrupted and blaring of car horns filled the air.
All this time the smaller guy remains mute a perfect contrast with all those veins of anger crisscrossing his face. Yes, he was a very enraged person. A couple of younger onlookers tried to intervene trying to tell the big guy there was no need for all the profane language and it was not right insulting the other guy who remained quiet. ‘Big Daddy’ wasn’t having it. Then a lady probably in her mid-forties of somewhere around there boldly says, “You were the one who crushed into him. He was on the right lane and you’re the one who was trying to outrun him on the wrong side of the road!” I tell you hell broke lose as the big guy goes ballistic and other onlookers decided on which side they would be. The insults against our tough guy began pouring down to the extent for the first time something like shock made him slow his pace. He moves towards his car throwing the most vulgar insult towards the other guy.
Then the unthinkable happens as the quite guy practically flies through the air towards the guy. It was only at the last seconds multiple hands caught him and pulled him back. David had enough! And you’d wonder as to how a so-controlled person could transform into a practically enraged bear or something! Was he justified to act as such? Well, the fact remains that the fellow was subjected to the most horrible verbal abuse for several minutes while scores were watching! After all most of us have our red lines and his have been crossed in the most outrageous way! Now we’re talking about people both of whom were probably on the doorsteps of their fifties if they haven’t already crossed over. And those weren’t scenes you expected from them. ‘Big Daddy’ was about to get into his car when a couple of guys prevented him saying he can’t go until the traffic police arrived. It was too much for me and my idea of a quite solitary walk having been shattered.
Once on my way a couple of thoughts really pummeled me. How can a person who for all his outer demeanor appears to be a civilized guy who would settle for nothing except the rational. You know the sort of guy not given to those darker sides of life. And this happens! Now and then I hear of such stories where those who are expected to be on the right side of life acting like, for lack of a better word, backstreet hoodlums! Or to put it in other words people who are supposed to be well-educated, with profound knowledge of the things that could help the wellbeing of the society and who know that it is those small things which if not handled properly could create chaos. That minor crash might have not damaged both that much. But what ensued following that could have resulted in serious problems that would impact even the two guys’ families and others around them.
You know something is really wrong with the age we live in when you hear and watch such things from people who should have asked two or three times before throwing themselves into that very pit of unsocial behavior while they should have prevented others from falling into it!
It is tantalizing to think as to how unsocial people from whom you expected civility at its best can get!
BY EPHREM ENDALE
The Ethiopian Herald October 13/2024