8/03/2006

At Least I Had CPK For Dinner

Posted by Brandon |

My car broke down in the middle of an intersection this afternoon. I pulled up to make a left hand turn but had to wait for oncoming traffic to clear. As soon as I stopped, my car lurched, made a terrible grinding noise and died a very painful death. I put my emergency flashers on and tried to restart my car, but all I got was more heartbreaking moans and wails. So there I am, partially blocking traffic with my broke ass car, expecting to have someone stop and give me a push soon.

But the cross traffic on Daily Drive weaved around me to go straight or pulled past me and made a hard turn to take a left. Cars behind me ventured into oncoming traffic to get around me and take the turn that I wasn't able to take. Pedestrians looked at me like I was crazy and walked away.

Virtually everybody who went by shot me a dirty look. Quite a few people honked their horn at me like it would help. Some fucker pulled up on my ass and proceeded to honk at me, really laying on it when the light turned yellow and he realized he was going to miss his turn. Some other dickfaces went past me once and then came back the other way pointing and laughing. Everybody went out of their way to go around me, but nobody went out of their way to help me.

One person finally stopped, ten, maybe fifteen minutes later. He was nice enough to not only give me a push to the side of the road, but he also let me use his cell phone to call AAA so I could get a tow. I was very grateful and thanked him probably twenty times. But one decent person in nearly an hour of me either stuck in the middle of an intersection or sitting on the side of the road doesn't make up for the hundreds of butt-munches who zoomed by me.

I'm not really that upset about my car dying, although my bank account will be in the next couple of days. I'm more troubled by the lack of decency and concern that was displayed at that intersection today. Whenever I see someone broken down like that I do what I can to help, always have, it's the right thing to do. In Washington, people always stop, most of the time there are too many people helping. Here in California, not so much.

Since coming back to Cali after a week in the South Sound, I have been pretty homesick, not so much because of the weather or the scenery or whatever. Mainly I've been homesick becuase of the residents. The majority of Southern Californians don't have a selfless bone in their bodies. It's easily the rudest place I have ever been to and it makes living here almost unbearable. This incident has driven that feeling home and makes me long even more for the overly polite Pacific Northwest.

Camarillo, California: you are dead to me.

7 comments:

DutchBitch said...

Geez, that sucks! I once had to drive home with a temporary spare tire with which you can only drive 80 km/h... The number of fingers I encountered and dirty looks... Hey suckers! I was only trying to drive home to get me a new tire!

I once fell off the stairs in the HOSPITAL I work at, only to have the next 10-15 DOCTORS, not even cautiously, stepping over me and giving me dirty looks as I was apparently "in the way" while I was laying at the bottom of the stairs in agony...

Some people...

Avitable said...

CPK rocks. Love the BLT pizza.

Kate the Peon said...

I'm always tempted to pull over on the highway and at least offer my cell phone, but as a single chic, I'm also too cautious too. Sometimes being afraid screws others.

Brandon said...

Dutchy - I've done the spare tire drive a few times and it is always totally miserable.

Avitable - You gotta love a place that tosses their lettuce in mayonaise.

Kate - It's understandable in many situations, I don't blame you. But I was stuck in the middle of a busy intersection, what am I going to do to you?

Snackie - Yep, I'm on the opposite side of LA as you. The 405 is the worst freeway I have ever been on, I avoid it at all costs.

Karl said...

Dude, that bites. It's sad that it's so out of the ordinary for someone to stop and help.

Wish we'd been able to hook up while I was in California.

Peeved Michelle said...

I'd like to think that I would have stopped to help if I had seen you, but it is probably just as likely that I would have assumed you had a cell phone and that you already called for help.

Brandon said...

Karl: It doesn't just apply to a stranded car, but it seems to apply to most things. Helping is unheard of. People think that what they are doing is so damn important that they can't stop for even a minute.

RW: I have taken it upon myself to do what I can to help and be polite even though nobody else does. Someone has to.

Michelle: I hear you, I didn't think of that. But still, I'm in the middle of an intersection. I need immediate assistance. I still can't believe that this only registered for one person out of the hundreds that passed me.

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