Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Cairo kisses

Brad was in a car accident the other day. I thought about blogging something about it, but I forgot. Yea, I forgot. Cairo kisses, as in cars 'kissing' other cars on the road, happens so often that it gets to be part of the routine. You know, "Coffee was good this morning, we got the National Geographic magazine and a bill in the mail, I got rear-ended by a hit and run driver, your friend said to tell you hi, blah blah blah..." Routine. How strange is that? Guess we've been here too long! Or, just long enough to get a laugh out of something completely unacceptable anywhere else.

Brad said that he had stopped in traffic, but then heard desperate braking behind him, followed by a loud crash, glass breaking, and he was jolted rather strongly. It was so loud that the driver of the car in front of him was concerned that she may have been hit too and also got out of her car to check for damage! She looked at Brad in confusion because their cars were not even close, and he had to tell her that he didn't hit her! About this time, the driver of the car that hit Brad saw a cop approaching and he vamoosed. Must have had no money/insurance/etc. Brad said there was glass and grill bits everywhere - none of it belonging to our truck. Nobody was hurt (well, that we know of - the guy drove off!). The woman of the front car and Brad checked for damage on their vehicles - none on the 1st because she wasn't hit at all (she must have heard the loud crash just as she was stopping - it was a sudden stop and that can cause a jerk), and there was only a slight scratch on the rear bumper our truck.

I should feel silly for forgetting this, but Brad started it. He didn't think to tell me about the accident until later that evening after he'd been in for awhile. And the only thing we are annoyed about is that the driver didn't have the guts to just stop and apologize. We were rear-ended by a minibus previously. Actually did a little damage, about $100 worth - it would have been much more in the US. Technically, we could have probably demanded some form of payment from the bus driver - the large group of police who witnessed the accident would have backed us up, but it was obvious that this was an accident. We had to stop fast or hit someone who jumped out in front of us, the bus driver couldn't stop, so he hit us. It was also obvious that the driver was very scared and it was likely that he had no ability to pay for our damages. The difference? He offered. We said no thanks, it was ok. Too bad that this other driver ran off. Brad would have given him a 'no problem' had he stopped. It wasn't our car that was damaged, and traffic was bad - it happens! - he would have been understanding. O well...

8 comments:

Mama Seoul said...

mafesh mousekela!

Simple Answer said...

I like the term Cairo Kisses.

Anonymous said...

I`m glad no one was hurt. Just another sign that you`ve become a true expat, embracing another culture. ;)

Donna said...

Sounds like China. Everyone's always crashing into everyone else, and you're supposed to settle it right there by the side of the road - or in the middle of the road, if that's where your car came to a halt.

Thanks for stopping by my blog - that's how I found you.

Lloyd said...

Glad no-one was hurt.

Anonymous said...

I too am glad no one got hurt when my brother got kissed in the rear end!
ps William felt bad that he'd bought and sold a lot of pools taking Brian's money lower...he didn't know when you sell after a buy that you only got half price...but he is committed to getting the money back up. Please let us know if Brian wants us to stop. But they love thinking they are making him happy. (webkinz)
--JR (bro)

junglemama said...

So different than in America. Glad to hear Brad is okay.

Diane Mandy said...

Cairo traffic--I have experienced it for myself. My husband is Egyptian and we travel there annually to visit family. The traffic is complete chaos! So bad that my husband's family who lives there hired a driver.