Locky has an itchy fit after I picked him up from his
original grandma (a boarding perk I got from his original family when I adopted
him. He has a second home whenever I am away). Besides medication and
antiseptic soap, the vet suggested that he put on a cone or a shirt to prevent
him from scratching. Here he is unhappy with the fashion choice, and that is my
best T-shirt!
During my previous work, I passed this neighborhood road
daily around the same time. I would see the same kiosks, the same people
sweeping their yards, the same dog lounging under the afternoon sun, the same
rubbish on the roadside, the same undies on the same cloth lines; yeah, I made
the last two up.
Anyway, one day, there was a classic car on one of the
roadsides (Classic, as far as my car’s knowledge allows me, I know almost
nothing about them!). It was a pale blue, older model with a squarish look. Not
Volkswagen, Cadillac, or Mustang; it looked sporty enough with Mustang’s style.
Two youngsters, most probably less than twenty
years old, were attending to it. They were busy cleaning, scrubbing, and
tinkering every time I passed by.
I paid attention to everything unusual, interesting, or
something regular. I also needed to slow down because sometimes there were
stuff or tools scattered around. But one thing was for sure: they were very
into whatever they were working on. It was not clear on week one, but on week
two, they moved to focus on the area around the wheels, and it became obvious
that they were trying to lower the chassis by the time they entered week three.
Please don’t ask me; I still don’t understand why some folks
think cars with low body clearance from the road are cool and great. To put it
simply, the less space it has between the chassis and the road, the better. I
assume it feels different when you drive it; most probably, it feels like a
racing car. I prefer to be as high as I can because I need to see what is going
on in front of me. So, it’s not for me, but I understand that it’s a passion
for some. It’s probably cool to look at as well for them, and it’s some
achievement to obtain or modify a car that way. Here, there are no clear rules
for modifications, or maybe there are, but after seeing all sorts of weird
things on the street, they are probably very lax.
I enjoyed looking at how passionate these two were; they
looked content and did a decent job on the car. Sometimes, there were one or
two onlookers who helped them or just chatted on a small makeshift wooden
pavilion nearby. All in all, it was a quality afternoon time for them. The car
got lower and lower until it was around or less than 5 centimeters or two
inches from the ground, and they wrapped the work.
However, there was one biggest flaw that they didn’t
consider. It was very obvious, but maybe they focused on the process, and as a
result, they forgot about one thing: Bali’s roads.
Bali has every imaginable road: the smooth ones, the jagged
ones, the ones with plot holes, the ones with swimming pools, the ones with
trees planted on the sides (not on planters or islands or curbs, on the
roads!), the dirt roads, the ones with steep inhumane gradient that you clench
butt cheeks when you go up and see your life flash before your eyes when you go
down, the ones that lead to nowhere, and the ones with obnoxious manholes and
humps.
Some manhole covers are fitted so haphazardly that they are
much higher than the road. Humps, there are no standards here; sometimes they
are reasonable with good angles, sometimes they are invisible (not painted),
sometimes they are designed to make you fly or grant you a visit to the
mechanics. There is one key here; all of them are higher than 5 centimeters.
Some assholes think it’s okay to speed on the neighborhood
roads, so there are a lot of humps to prevent that, including, wait for it,
humps in front and behind where this car was located, which was less than fifty
meters in each direction. They were not painted, but a regular would know them
by heart. I assume they tried to test the car for a ride when reality dawned on
them because after the car was finished, it was only abandoned on the roadside
for months until, one day, it was gone.
It was a pity. This post should stop here, but of course,
like many insufferable writers, I try to draw a parallel in life. There is a
good possibility that the way ahead and around us are not as obvious as when
they are viewed from afar or by others. We get so accustomed to the conditions
and surroundings that we can’t see the glaring, unbeatable obstacles, or we can
see them but choose to ignore them because we enjoy what we are doing. I think
it happens to me more than I am willing to admit.
Have a great day, everyone. Sometimes, I wish I was born on
leap day because I hate celebrating birthdays, but that is the story for
another day.
