Thursday, June 04, 2009

Road Clearers

I've turned in to one of these people. You know the type of people who stop and get out of their car and move items from the middle of the road - this is me!

I used to only keep this sort of behaviour to the village I grew up in. But now, oh deary me, it's spread. I'm constantly stopping (only if it's safe) to remove items from the road. In the last month, I've moved numerous rolling bins and recycling bins and the other day, I picked up a hitch-hiker!!! ?

He was a car delivery guy and I always see them and they look so sad, just waiting or walking down the side of the road and he was quite old. Picture the scene, I'm on my way to work, it's about 1.30pm. Hit the Oxford ringroad and on a piece of duel carriageway is an old chap holding out a little sign. Needless to say, his actions were dangerous 'full stop' - it's a massive black spot of accidents. So I drive on, thinking, I'm a lone girl in a car, he could be a nutter and then I remembered, I lived in Oxford and bad things don't happen in Oxford. So I left the road at the next exit, looped back on myself and picked him up. He was awfully grateful.

He was from Brum. Had already dropped off one car in Banbury and had hitched all the way to Oxford. He was now headed out East. I was planning on dropping him off at the next roundabout (aptly named "Golden Balls") but when he said he was headed to Wallingford, in typical Country style* I said "oh, that's quite close to where I'm going, I'll drop you off at your destination".
It turned out that his destination was the other side of Wallingford by the Henley turning, up a road I was unable to access and his sat nav wouldn't give an alternative route (why people rely on these things is beyond me, I'm a maps girl all the way). I ended up dropping him off at the end of the no entry road and carrying on to work - 20 minutes late. But I did a good deed which is what counts and hopefully made his life a little easier. Although work seems a little bemused by this excuse.

Then two days later, there is a massive branch in the middle of the road, everyone is going around it, no one can be bothered to get out and move it, so I start to slow down, when i see a girl sprinting down the road. I stop, allowing her to cross and she clears the debris. I was so impressed. Good for her! I only hope the next time I'm moving things, someone thinks "good for her" about me.

*Country style relates to that fact that most of us in the Countryside hear that someone/thing is within 5-10 miles of where we are heading and we see no problems what so ever with just going that little bit further. I guess it's the whole mentality that we're already in the car and everything is at least 2-3 miles away.

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