Sunday, April 24, 2011

A to Z Challenge

A Tribute to the letter "T"

I was supposed to have written a blog in honor of the letter "T" but I was so run down that I could not get up from the living room floor. Sometimes Saturdays can do that to you. You just need to "veg" out. I did and now I feel like I failed at the A to Z Challenge. Oh well, we cannot be successful at every thing :(
I think that I can blame my tiredness to some degree on having to deal with  traffic these days.

On Friday someone wrote a comment (on someone else's blog) that  they had a beer while driving. At first I was a little angry, then I said to myself that at least that person is responsible enough to realize that he was guilty of having a beer while driving. How many drivers are out there, who drink and drive and not realize it?  How many more drivers are out there who have four cups of coffee or soft drinks that have caffeine equal to four cups of caffeine? Combine the coffee and the fear of not getting to work on time, you have drivers who refuse to take their foot off of the gas pedal and if there is a slow car in front of them, they swirl around it in the same speed. If there is not enough room for them to swirl or swing around the slow car, then there is a crash. Then that driver along with at least thirty to forty cars behind them, is stranded, if not badly hurt. Thank God for seatbelts and airbags, the number of traffic deaths have decreased. Still I think an accident is a waste of resources and time that is if everyone comes out of their cars safe and sound.

My daughter loves this poem, that I wrote while being stranded in a traffic jam.

Highway Wreath

Policemen, Firemen and paramedics
They were all on their toes
Trying to save whoever it was
Trying their best, God only knows
Teenage driver, a tired mother
or even a second shifter
Is that her or is that him
A DWI or a drifter
Everyone was going frantic
Trying to pull the wounded out
Calling the local hospitals
the nearest ones about
Half a mile traffic back up
Now becoming a mile or two
Tired travellers getting more tired
Not knowing what to do
People wondering what happened
Was it a blind spot
Or was it the brake, the speed
Or a tire that was shot
I was sitting counting my sins
Patiently at the wheel
There are enough broken hearts
Enough pain we had to feel
Oh, Dear God, please spare
The paramedics the pain
Of having to pick up that phone
And tell that it was in vain.

8 comments:

Step-parent's Cove said...

Love the blog. A couple of days ago I was chatting with someone who recently made her mother give up driving because of the impatient drivers on the road now a days. We laughed at her mother driving way to slow, and causing a line of cars to wait for her to speed 10 miles more than she can or could handle. Jokingly, I told her to leave her mother alone about the subject, because she has earned the rights to drive slower than normal. :) Unfortunately, new drivers and those who live life in the fast-lanes feel differently. Sadly, our elderly are being forced off the roads sooner than need be, and many of them have no one like my friends mom to transport them here or there.

Monalisa said...

I'm having driving classes now, it's been a month. I shall hold a driving license very soon. During my classes what would scare me most was two vehicles coming against me at the same time through a single line two way traffic. I would barely see any space i could take through, and mostly my teacher would interfere. And hell on these Indian roads, they hardly have any division of left and right traffic. Some real urgent fellows would come behind me horning like they got all people's ears on lease, and I'd have to drive out of my route. And worst of it, mostly it would be heavy vehicles. They run like rockets! God only knows what they got on their mind. But on the go, i'll have to learn the driver-created rules of these challenging Indian roads, just as to survive.

Vanilla Mama said...

Driking and driving can ruin more than just your own life-I hope they realize their mistake. You did do a post on T - TIRED!! Get some rest, your body, soul and mind come first!

Anonymous said...

Oh Munir, please...I attempted the A to Z last spring. Go back and read it if you want to feel better. If you don't have time, though, I'll give you a hint...when I got to J, I faked a hispanic accent, and on the letter K I did a post on Canapes. Just the way I roll. I liked your poem. I live on a busy street in a a residential neighborhood on the corner of a cross street. Friday night we had family over and none of us heard a thing because we all talk too much and too loud, but there was a huge crash right outside of our house-we think someone taking a left hand turn was a little too anxious. One person was taken out with the sheets drawn over the head. It was really sad. Drive safe and Happy Easter. Thanks for stopping by my blog and your kind words.

VR Barkowski said...

So many drivers are impatient - and I know this sounds cliche - but they don't watch out for the other guy. Getting into a car these days has become a terror for me, one I hope doesn't turn into a full-blown phobia. In the State of Georgia, the Department of Transportations has determined roadside memorials illegal. Still, they decorate almost every roadway. IMO, the memorials are reminders that deserve respect. The State wants to put up generic signs in place of the wreathes and crosses, but as of now, the memorials remain.

You posted a brilliant poem which you wrote while stranded in Traffic, which indeed starts with a 'T'. By my calculation you are right on schedule with the A to Z Challenge. :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Munir .. great letter 'T' .. and reminding us so well of tiredness ..

I thought the poem was very good .. and so well constructed of all the terrible things that might have and probably had happened ..

Tired, Tribute, Terrible .. not too bad for a staggering Saturday! Hope you can feel slightly more relaxed now .. Cheers Hilary

Ann said...

That is a wonderful Poem. Emanating the sadness and futility of lives shattered by careless thoughtless or reckless drivers.

TheFusionTea said...

Terrific poem, have some T sometimes :) Many thanks for dropping by my blog.