A Prayer for a cow, and the perils of driving in the rain

Spurred on by my increasing boredom at work (see? It Does have a purpose apart from paying the bills!), I’ve decided to treat you all to a birds-eye view of one of my rare forays into the magical world of blogs.

I’ve been out of the office the last few days, because I had some work in town. I’d come in at half past eight and leave by ten or so, before returning to office at around 4.30/5.00pm, dead on my feet and in dire need of a beer. Yesterday happened to be a colleague’s birthday, and he asked me to pick up some chocolates on the way back. I stopped at Nilgiri’s, which is on the highway, picked up a few dozen Perks, and stood in the check-out queue. The thing about this shop is, it has HUGE plate glass windows, which afford a wonderful view of the highway, which is actually missing the point. I wish I hadn’t been looking out of them though. It was a little bit like something out of a film, with the wide screen to boot.

As I stood there with my wallet in one, hand, waiting for the girl behind the counter to give me my change, I noticed a cow crossing the highway, ambling across slowly, as they usually do. What happened next was in slow motion.

The road was fairly wet, as it was drizzling. Driving on a highway is difficult at the best of times, but when it’s raining, you have to be extra careful. When you’re driving a really heavy vehicle, like a truck, you have to be extra extra careful. Actually, it doesn’t matter, because if something’s going to happen, it will happen. Even if you take every precaution against it happening, fate usually deals a fairly assured hand, and all your pathetic little precautions are rendered useless.

Back to what happened next. This big truck came barreling down the highway. He must have being doing at least 80 kph, which is fairly dangerous in that sort of weather. The had just crossed the median, and it was almost over to the other side. I’m fairly sure the driver of the truck was blowing his horn, but then I couldn’t hear. I’m also fairly sure he’d hit the brakes, but then that’s what I would have done. The next thing I know, the cow’s flying one way, and the truck’s toppling over on one side. It was a glancing blow, but at that speed, it’s pretty damn dangerous. The cow ended up on its side, on the median, while the truck ended up on its side, off the road, pretty much.

The driver of the truck was out almost immediately, scratching his head and looking pretty dazed (as you would), but the cow wasn’t so lucky. The girl didn’t even give me my change. Everyone was outside. You know, the ghoul factor (is that what it’s called?). I sauntered out, feeling pretty disturbed myself, because it looked nasty. Now, I’m not one to get involved in things like this, especially when there’s over 50 people on the spot within 20 seconds of the event. As I watched from a distance, three people tried to pick the cow up and get it back on all fours. Twits. The sounds it was making were pretty heart-rending. Eventually they gave up, but by then I reckon it was too late. The poor thing. As I turned away to go back into the shop and get my change, I prayed silently for it. Why did that have to happen? Especially considering cows are among the most gentle, harmless creatures on the planet. Along with chickens, fish, lambs, pigs etc. Which is why I wish I were a vegetarian. In fact I am, but I went and made a complete hypocrite of myself by eating meat at my friend’s birthday party. Perhaps by telling you all, I’ll be redeemed, but it’s still something I regret doing.

I feel pretty bad for cows in general - they always seem to get a raw deal. I’m tempted to make a joke about what’s at steak for humanity and our principles here, but I won’t, because that wouldn’t be very nice. (“Well done”, I hear you say). Sorry.

Actually, I have no clue why I wrote that post. Explanations? Anybody?