We always seem to rent houses at the end of the street, with a T or L intersection. I always tell people when I’m giving them directions, “If you don’t stop, you’ll crash into our fence.”
Wednesday night it finally happened. I heard a strange noise, and saw a motorbike at our front fence, so went outside to investigate. That’s when I discovered he wasn’t at the fence, he was through the fence. The very drunk driver swayed a little as he said with a slur, “I’m sorry, my brakes failed.” It was a good thing our dog, Rusty, was locked in his cage. I’m not sure that Rusty would have responded kindly to such a rude intrusion into his territory. Hopefully Rusty wouldn’t have enjoyed the basting sauce the man had used.
“You seem to have a strong smell of alcohol.”
“I’m not drunk. I already drove a long way to get here and this is my first accident.”
That was indeed a miracle. Not only that he had survived the trip drunk but his dilapidated bike had mysteriously held together. Not only did the brakes not work, but the battery was on the ground along with hosing and other essential components. Now not even ducktape was going to get this machine back in motion.
Fortunately our friends and neighbors heard the noise and came to investigate. They lectured him on drunk driving as we took photos to remember the event by. (And maybe share with the police later, if necessary.)
“I only had 2 beers,” he said.
We’re assuming that he meant 2 pitchers of beer as he was quite vertically impaired.
“Why did you drive a vehicle that doesn’t work?”
“It belongs to where I work. No one there takes responsibility for it.”
Our friend Nathan helped him walk the battered machine back to where he lived nearby.
He promised to come by the next day and take responsibility. He said that he is adept at welding metal and can repair the fence himself.
That was last Thursday. We are hoping to see him one of these days.
Sadly, now our wonderful doggie has to stay chained up a lot or he might go wandering and upset our neighbors.
The amazing thing is that this is really the first time that we have ever encountered this sort of thing.