My car is currently in for a service so I am driving a courtesy car – henceforth referred to as ‘the red thing’, which I haven’t really had anything good to say about until now.
Driving back from visiting a member of a neighbouring congregation which I am currently looking after I had to pass through the ‘Raith Interchange’. For those of you reading this who are unfamiliar with it, it is a very busy junction with two roundabouts and several sets of lights and always a lot of traffic. Once through it the road takes a dip and bends and all traffic speeds up. I was happily overtaking a lorry when suddenly a gust of wind sent a rogue traffic cone right into my path. I had about 30 yards to decide whether to - drive over the traffic cone, drive into the lorry I was overtaking, or slam on the brakes which would probably mean I would still not miss the cone and chance the silver Mercedes behind ramming into the back of me. Breaking gently and sending up a quick prayer I took the first course of action and heard the cone crumple and then start to scrape along the road as it got stuck underneath the car. The driver behind me was wonderful he had seen what had happened and stuck on his hazards and slowed right down, he made no attempt to undertake me instead he protected me and ‘the red thing’ by slowing the traffic down behind, however the traffic wasn’t letting me into the inside lane so finally he pulled over, hazards still blinking away and let me slowly pull in, until I was stationary at the side of the road.
I come to my first thing to say - if that driver happens to be reading this blog, which I realise is probably unlikely, but just in case, a big thank you!
Now it is not a good road to be stationary on with everyone else is doing 50 going on 60+ but there was no way I was going to drive the car any further as I didn’t know exactly where the cone was and the steering was all to pot.
The second thing I want to say is sorry to any driver who was then caught up in the queue that quickly formed as I blocked half a lane. I really didn’t have any choice but to stop the car, if I could have got it to the next exit on the hazards I would have.
I grabbed my phone slipped it into my pocket and carefully got out of the car. Checking round the car I discovered the cone was now firmly lodged at the rear axle, no wonder the steering wasn’t too hot, but there appeared to be no damage, but there was no way I was going to be able to get that cone out. Just as I reached into my pocket to get the phone and phone someone - hadn’t actually decided who at that point - an AA van pulled up behind me.
The nice man from the AA didn’t ask if I was a member - which I am - he just asked what the problem was. I told him and he went got a jack from the van and soon had the car up and the cone out, stuffing it tightly between a nearby fence so that it didn’t end up back on the road again or under someone else’s car. I thanked him, as he lowered the car back down all he said was ‘Well I wasn’t going to drive passed, be careful joining the traffic again.’ Then headed back to his van.
The third thing I want to say is thank you to that AA man again, if he hadn’t come along when he did I don’t know how long I might have been stuck there and I am sure all the other cars which use that stretch of road are grateful to him for making the blockage as short as it was. By the time those drivers who were stuck on the M74 and at the Raith Interchange because of my altercation with a traffic cone reached the spot, there would have been no evidence of what had caused their delay apart from an un-noticed traffic cone lodged in a fence.
The fourth thing, what about the fourth thing I hear you say.
Well the fourth thing is this, if you are going to hit a traffic cone do it in a car that is further off the road than my ‘Baby’ I dread to think what might have happened if instead of going under the car that cone had been tossed into the air, or jammed under my bumper and caused me to swerve or stopped me in my tracks.
I know I said four things, but I do have one finally thing to say, if you like the moral of the tale.
My service was supposed to be done last Friday, they didn’t complete it, and so I had to take it back in yesterday. It was supposed to be finished yesterday, they still hadn’t completed it. It was supposed to be finished today, it wasn’t, and hence why I was still driving ‘the red thing’. I have gone through all the hassle of this prolonged service, driving a car that I really don’t like, and if truth be known moaning about both, just so God had me in a car that would save me from that traffic cone. Sometimes God’s plans can be rather convoluted and the purpose can take a while to materialise!