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