Two
things people do - and regret a moment later.
One,
they hold the button down, locking the car door and pronto - lock themselves
out. What a nuisance when you have an appointment to meet.
The
other habit is placing items onto the roof of your vehicle, while unlocking or
loading the car.
I
was cycling along a busy boulevard in a posh area of Adelaide, when I noticed
a handbag in the middle of the road. Lucky it had not been damaged yet, so I
picked it up. Normally, I am not into handbags, but I had to find out, who the
owner was.
How
interesting! I
found out, from the well stocked bankbook, that it belonged to Lady D...., the
wife of our ex-governor. Her residence was just around the corner. I cycled
the short distance. As I arrived there, I saw the elderly, well dressed lady
standing puzzled by her car. She looked like she had lost something.
I
handed over the handbag, satisfied I had done my good deed for the day. She
explained that she had placed the handbag on the roof and driven off.
Silly
me cycled off without even leaving my name.
(Wouldn’t
Mrs. Bucket have had a field day? You have to know a certain UK TV Series to
understand the joke).
During
another,
very embarrassing episode I encountered a friend, who had not learned this
lesson. He had previously worked in our office and come back to have 200
photocopies taken for his occupation. Initially I was reluctant, because he
did not offer to pay for them. But after a while I gave in and handed the job
to my secretary.
Everything
would have gone well, had the gentleman not forgotten his car
keys at the reception desk. He placed the 200 copies on the roof of his car
and went back to get his keys.
Minutes
later my
secretary came into my office and questioned, what was going on. The
photocopies she had done for me were all strewn around the company carpark. It
looked like we had a snowfall in midsummer. White
pieces drifting slowly over the landscape.
While
I was stooping down, collecting each copy one by one, I was sure all my
colleagues were watching me. I
was called to the big boss to explain and pay for the copies.
Can
you believe,
this friend still owes part of the money for the photocopies? With friends
like this, can you blame me for migrating to Australia?
Teach
your learners not to place anything on top of the car - never ever!
Index