Traffic Koans [Day 30]
This is Day 30 of the 30-day Traffic Koans contest. Details on how to enter can be found here: https://steemit.com/traffic-koans/@jedau/traffic-koans-halfway-update-1505319420-6600256
A man walked shakily, groggy from his earlier ordeal. He was exhausted and had no more money. He could've stayed at an all-night convenience store to rest up until morning, but he chose to forge on home.
Halfway home, he came across a bearded man, who seemed as if was making a beeline towards him. The bearded man blocked his path and grabbed on to him.
Fearing for his life, the man pushed the bearded aggressor aside and ran away. Before the bearded man could hit the ground, he was quickly swept up by a speeding car.
Horrified, the man screamed as he collapsed to the ground.
When he came to, he found himself lying on the floor of a bus. He wasn't sure if the events that happened was just in his imagination.
Welcome to the final edition of The Shoulder Lane! I want to extend my utmost gratitude to those of you who stuck around, submitted entries and just joined in on the fun! I would be doing a culmination post soon, so I'll just elaborate on the experience there.
This is the last koan you can submit entries to, but I'll give all of you until the payout of this koan to submit your entries for any of the previous koans. The three winner spots are still up for grabs the whole week, so don't miss out!
Also, donations are still being accepted for the prize pool. I would really appreciate it if you could spare some SBD :D
On to the koan! Since it's the last day, I don't want to give it away too easily. But, it's something that most of us experience from time to time after a long day.
Man, September went by so quickly. It was like a dream. From this contest's standpoint, it felt more like a nightmare though haha! Just kidding. Or am I? God, I need some coffee. Anyway, since Green Day asked so nicely...
THIS IS A CONTEST WITH SBD PRIZES!
To know how to enter, check out the link below
Vote @lukestokes.mhth | @steemgigs as Steemit witnesses!
Well I am scratching my head at decoding this one!! Lane switching? Without signalling? What about waking up on a bus. I have no idea!
I am sending some sbeeds you're way for the contest!
Definitely chock full of red herrings, this one! I've codenamed this koan the seafood section in the supermarket after all. This actually deals more with... zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Wha-Why Oh! You told me you sent the moolah! I was so late to read this I thanked you ahead! No matter, the gesture is worth thanking a multitude of time. So, thank you, dude! You are a gentleman and a national treasure!!
I'm sorry I missed all this....frustrated with my feed.
I will go check the dictionary to see what a koan is and be back later to see if I can enter...
All is forgiven :D You can check out the contest rules for the definition of the koan. I have explained it as best as I can there. I hope you get an entry in before the deadline :D
Oooh you've pulled out the stops for this last one!
Hmmm, is it falling asleep at the wheel?
Or trying to overtake when you really shouldn't be?
Or indeed a third option?
Hmmm.... well if it's one of the first two, I have no stories to tell. I am a complete chicken when it comes to overtaking! I would rather sit behind a trundling tractor for 50 miles than overtake it haha!
Oh I did, I did! Rented a backhoe and all! What gave it away? The peculiar holes where all the stop signs used to be? The speeding cars and all the ensuing mayhem? Both? None of them?
DING DING DING!!! You got it! This is exactly what I was trying to convey. I placed the old characters and connected the other koans to throw people off the scent, but your slug-influenced reflexes proved to be no match for it!
I used to be timid about overtaking as well, but the baby buses here have a way of training you to become better overtakers haha!
Thanks for stopping by and for your continued support of Traffic Koans for the whole duration of the contest :D Expect a shoutout in the culmination post :D
Lol!!...my slug-influenced reflexes!!
Wahey! I got one!!
Aw it's been a real pleasure.... :))
You already got quite a lot in the past, so you're very much covered ;)
This calls for an early morning happy dance! La la la laaa.... hmmm couldn't think of another way to express happy dancing in text haha!
Yes! All of the yeses! XD
I tried doing it myself, but I couldn't do it!! That kid must have an expert-level dancing skill!
I'm not entirely sure if I understand what's going on but let's try:
After graduating high school, I took a road trip with my friends. We started out on our way to our first destination. Our friend who was driving did not look like himself. When he started to slur his words we realized something wasn't right. "Are you drunk!? It's 11 AM! And you are driving! You want to get arrested? You wanna kill us?"
It took a big argument to get him to finally give up the wheel. As we were arguing he almost hit a pedestrian, actually knocking her purse out of her hand but luckily that was all. I imagined what would have happened if he had actually hit her, we wouldn't have been able to go on our road trip and that poor lady... After that we convinced him to pull over and he slept on my shoulder in the back seat the rest of the ride there.
What gave you difficulty grasping the concept of the contest? I'm very interested to know.
There is actually an earlier koan that dealt with drunk driving, so I'm placing this one under consideration there. This one deals with driving while drowsy. It's a great story though! I'm glad the trip went well, even if it didn't start of great. Thanks for sharing it!
Well I missed the whole contest so I wasn't sure what had been used already, I wasn't sure what his earlier ordeal was, and since it was about traffic I thought he wa sin a car at first but then the whole situation didn't make much sense "grabbing on" etc. hhaha it wasn't a problem with your koan...I was just new to the context.
I totally get it. I've placed it under consideration there though so that it would be graded properly.
Yes, rain does fall from the stars, whether we walk, or bike, or drive - sober or drunk -, whether we talk, or write, or scream, or just sit in silence watching the time pass by, or whether we are menaced in another dreamers' dream, or maybe just the opposite, gently tended in a soft cloud of light where no harm could ever get us and whatever hurtful happens, happens just before or after, or somewhere aside..."It's something unpredictable but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life!"
How poetic! Thanks for sharing that to cap off the contest. Also, all of the resteems are highly appreciated :D
Hm. So illegal loading and unloading, drinking and driving, and a new taxi driver who took out the mirrors on the cars...admittedly it might not be the most ideal time for me to figure this one out, having just got back from Vermont and a seven and a half hour drive. But I wanted to stop by and say something, ha! How about, I will check out my finances and see if I can send a little bit more your way for the contest? :) Is there a certain amount you need? I see that the ultra cool @meesterboom has jumped into the donation pool.
Oh that would've been the perfect time for you to figure out the koan!! Hahahaha!! Actually, I think you lived it while trying to figure it out! So meta!!
The words are highly appreciated as always! Don't worry about it, my friend :D The amount you had already sent is plenty enough. Yes, the stupendous Scot has not only cannonballed into the pool, but has pulled ahead (in case you want to be competitive hahaha ;) )
How did I only find this in my feed at the end of your monthlong venture? Driving, to me, is the scariest thing that many of us do on a regular basis.
My boyfriend and I were on a road trip back in May. We get plenty of sleep and keep our driving to a minimum, but the road through the Oregon desert was long and flat and featureless. My boyfriend nodded off at the wheel and drifted into the other lane. I shouted and woke him up. Thankfully there were no other cars in sight, but we were both really shaken up about it. It was the scariest moment in months of roadtripping.
You caught it at just the right time! Right... at the very end haha! I was about to put on my jetpack and leave the Steemit planet, but I had to stop for a second to reply to your comment.
What do you guys do to your car when you leave the country? Just park it at home? Yikes! Drifting into the other lane is no bueno. I'm glad nothing terrible happened to you on your venture to the other side. In a way, I'm happy you didn't venture to the other other side. If that were to happen to me, I would've not grabbed the wheel for a couple of days. Happy both of you made it out in one piece!
Yeah, we had to pull over and calm our nerves for a good while. I'm glad we didn't cross over to the other other side too!
The car is shared. When we take it on trips we practically live out of it, and the rest of the time my boyfriend's brother uses it. Unfortunately, it just sits around a lot of the time (no one in the apartment likes to drive), but if we sold it local trips would be so much harder... Oh the dilemma!
Congratulations on completing another series, by the way! So much dedication.
Quite a pickle of a dilemma indeed! But, I feel like the strain on the local trips is a far greater consequence, so keeping the car, if for sentimentality's sake, would be the better option. I usually charge people a hundred bucks for that kind of advice, but I'm giving you a freebie ;) Don't tell anyone else though.
Haha! Thanks! Way harder than I thought. But, Dedication is one of my many middle names, after all. Suffice to say, I won't ever be organizing any contests on STEEM though haha!
Congratulations on making it to 30, not easy to do.
Thanks, Dale! It was really a struggle, but I'm glad I was able to go through it. Lots of lessons learned!
I was with My friend Solomon, who was driving along the countryside of a timid village. Driving at an average speed with a cool music to relax with. Unfortunately, we got blocked by some village youths who were drunk and in a festive mode. It was a tough quarrel with the youths until we had to give in to their monetary demands. We never travelled that route ever since
Ouch. I'm glad that you and your friend weren't physically hurt. I do feel this story slots in more with Day 28 though, or an earlier koan that dealt with drunk driving. Thanks for sharing it though! I'm happy you got out in one piece :D
I'm just working my way backwards through your posts, since there are no new ones to comment on.
That is like something out of a nightmare. The only thing I can liken it to didn't happen to me, but to my wife. She was biking, and the next thing she remember is being in an ambulance... and then in the hospital, where she called me from at 3 am. Very scary. No one knows what happened, but it's likely she got hit by a car, and had a concussion. She must have crawled to the sidewalk, but she doesn't remember that.
LOL you don't have to. You make it sound like a chore with that preamble.
Sorry to hear about what happened to your wife, but I guess the fault lies in the driver that hit her. She wasn't drunk or sleepy when she was biking, but the same can't be said about the driver. People like that really shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel. She's lucky she survived the encounter!
The preamble was meant more as an explanation. I don't mind working my way back until you have more new posts... but if you ever wonder why I'm so far back in your stream, that's why.
Haha! In any case, it's all new for you if you haven't seen them before after all. So, that's one thing.
True!
Haha yeah.