The pressures of congestion

The pressures of congestion

The tales of traffic jams and its consequences are endless. Almost every morning when my colleagues arrive in the office, they flop down on a chair and immediately start complaining about the terrible traffic-congestion in certain parts of the city, which compel cars to move at a snail's pace. The causes of such traffic jams are also endless, eternal road repairs, a car with an overheated engine refusing to move, the drivers of colliding cars who try to settle their arguments by means of kung fu they learn from TV, flooded streets during this rainy season and so on.

An acquaintance of mine, Mr A, was 74 and suffering from high blood pressure and died as the result of a traffic jam. One fine day, he drove down Jl. Thamrin and, as usual, the road was congested. Perhaps he was quite tired and irritated, because his feet had to push the gas, brake and gear pedals alternately, and this undoubtedly raised his blood pressure. When the traffic began to move, the car in front of him stopped suddenly and Mr A, who was not so quick with his reflexes, bumped into it. The driver of the car behind perhaps had reflexes as bad as my late friend, for he bumped into Mr. A's car.

As could be expected, all three angry drivers jumped out of their cars simultaneously and started arguing all at once.

I won't go in to the outcome of their argument and settlements, for when Mr A came home, he collapsed with high blood pressure and, for some unfathomable reason, the doctor who came to see him did not insist on hospitalization. The patient died the next day.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta