On Highways And Byways

Well, the following has nothing to do with the furtherance of the gospel, as such. I sure wish it did.

At 6:30 tonight I heard a loud crash. I walked over to discover debris scattered all over four lanes of traffic. Two lanes going north and two going south. Fortunately it didn't involve two vehicles or pedestrians. A driver slammed into the median strip. He had shorn off about ten feet of it. The material is not that sturdy. Some metal; but mainly other hard alloys. The driver waited about 30 feet ahead with his car. He was uninjured.

I asked if the police had been called. A young lady placed the call and said they were coming. Meanwhile strips from the guardrail and other sharp objects were strewn across the road. Cars were plowing through and noticing too late that perhaps their tires were in for some rough treatment.

Aside from the driver waiting next to his car with the blinkers on, I was the only guy around--just young women were in the center of the road --it's a pedestrian crossing. So, frustrated that no one was directing traffic away from all that debris --I took it upon myself to do so.(At least for one side of the highway.) Drivers here are hasty. I was wearing a dark jacket with no flashlight. Kind of foolhardy, I know. So these speedsters shined their bright lights at me while barrelling down the road. I held my hands out motioning them to go into the far lane which had less obstructions in the way. It was risky of me --but I am living to tell the tale with no injuries.

A few minutes later the larger pieces were taken out of the way. But smaller objects still posed a hazard to drivers. I asked for a broom. All of this for just one side of the highway. Finally at 7:00 PM on the nose a police car pulled up and pictures were taken. He then took care of business. I walked away.

As a foreigner I would normally tend to stay out of these situations. But the inaction of the community bothered me. So I got involved. In South Korea I only stepped into a domestic dispute once because I could have been charged with something. It's just that I can't stand idly by when a woman is being beaten. This was no domestic dispute --but no one was doing anything to improve the situation. I think what I did was appreciated by some. Others probably thought I was some crazy foreigner.