RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32358, 25 July 1970, Page 21

RANDOM REMINDER

PERFECT SQUELCH?

Just now and then, one is fortunate enough to hear of the sort of remark which meets a situation perfectly, without waste of words. The other day a Wellington man was in his car, being driven by his son, and they were in heavy traffic, and looking for a place to park. It is even harder to find one in Wellington than it is in Christchurch. Then they saw a vacant space ahead and made for

it with some expedition. As they swung into the kerb, a pedestrian stepped off the pavement on to the road, right in their path. The driver applied his brakes very swiftly and satisfactorily, and his father managed to overcome a natural tendency to go through the windscreen. Then there was one of those pregnant pauses with which we are al) familiar. The driver and his father sat in their

little car, looking at the pedestrian; and he stood there, in front of them, staring back at them. It seemed to be a complete impasse. They could not get their car properly parked, and he seemed to be of the opinion that that particular portion of the roadway was his, and that he proposed to retain it The pedestrian was the first to break the silence. “She’ll be right, mate,” he said. “But take your car off my foot!”