There are times when it is necessary to travel through the back roads of small towns to get to a destination; air travel can only take you where there are large airports ready to receive the multitudes and eat your luggage for breakfast, or dinner, depending on your flight time.
But then there are those time when your sales calls take you to a small town, a small city or a faraway location; business must be taken care of where it calls.
As we traveled, I noticed the car in front of us was weaving through traffic on a two-lane highway creating a rather dangerous situation. There were two people on the front seat of the car, and the female passenger was hitting the driver with a closed fist.
At one time, the driver crossed the dividing road almost hitting another car traveling in the opposite direction; that’s when I noticed the female passenger was irate and alarmingly animated, while the driver was trying his best to avoid her fists make contact with his face; driving and trying to defend himself at the same time did not make for safe travel on this two-lane highway.
I became more alarmed as the female passenger continued to hit the driver with her closed fists and I could almost hear the irate screams coming from her mouth. In the meantime, the driver tried in vain to keep the vehicle on a straight line without crossing the dividing road. It was like a bad movie where you try and help but are unable to do anything.
Because I am a law-abiding citizen, I dial *55 to get the nearest sheriff department involved, in case there was an accident; I did not want us to be involved in a collision when we were trying to avoid this couple fighting on the front seat of their car. Because of the traffic, we were unable to drive around them.
The woman at the sheriff’s office asked all the required questions to identify me as a believable caller and not just someone trying to get attention. After giving name, address, vehicle ID number, color and type, she asked for birth date, age, serial number, driver license number and all other personal information she could think of. I insisted this was an emergency as the car in front of us was weaving and there was a possibility, they would create a major accident on the road.
I gave her their vehicle license number and she promptly came out with the correct make, year and color of the vehicle in front of us. There goes privacy. She also asked the number of the road where we were driving so the police could easily follow and stop them.
I was certain the woman would send a car immediately, but she said for me not to hang up the phone and let her knows exactly what they were doing and what other roads we were passing along the highway. I complied and she assured me the sheriff would be waiting for them as they reached town.
However, two blocks before we reached the town, the couple turned and left the highway. I relayed the information to the sheriff’s department, and we stopped to see if the police would find them before they disappeared completely. The car was gone, never saw what happened to them and I was disappointed; I wanted to see the police cars, the sirens, the arrest, the handcuffs and the blood, just like you see on TV, but no. We turned around and went back to the highway and the rest of the trip was boring.