Ian Fleming once remarked how American road signs were so sexy – “winding curves” and “soft shoulders”.
I was thinking of Ian Fleming taking an unexpected 5K walk at night on the shoulders of a 6 line freeway.
Last night I was driving my daughter’s car on Route 6. There was a leak in the water pump, engine overheated and I stopped by the side of road and called a tow.
Visualize. Route 6 South, 2km before the Kfar Daniel interchange. 7pm at night
The tow company (Derachim) told me – up to 3 hours + 60 sheqel surcharge for service on Route 6 – they asked me how I would like to pay and I said – “cash”. After 1 1/2 hours – the tow shows up, takes the car and instead of taking the car (and me) to our garage in Shilat – he left me by the road side and drove off “to pick up another car in Rishon”. I started walking, after a brisk 5 km hike – I got a ride from a woman who stopped by the side to change her shoes…. I got my wife on the horn and we rendezvou’d at the gas station at Latrun.
The icing on the cake was a series of phone messages on my cell from the tow company at 1130 pm – saying that they understood I was supposed to pay the Route 6 surchage by credit card….