Hey all -
Now, I've only been here a while, and this may be old hat, but here's a chance to share war stories. We all know the order of traffic here is, well, "in prime opportunity for improvement." Why, just this week:
Monday - I was walking and I was struck by a car. OK, allow me to clarify: I was walking, not reading, text messaging, taking hallucinatory drugs, paying attention to myself and my surroundings, and I was struck by an SUV in the left thigh. OK, allow me to clarify MORE: I was walking, in sound body and mind, paying attention, not distracted on the side walk, NOT a driveway, and I was struck by a car. Now, naturally, my first inclination was to look at the driver. Expecting a "dui bu qi" or "bu hao yi si." No. The man looked at me with a frown, tilted his head, and sighed/groaned as if to say: "Why? Why are you in my way?" (or as Con put it last night: "If you don't like my driving, get off the side walk.")
Tuesday - I was on my friends borrowed e-bike. I was struck by another e-bike. Allow me to clarify: I was riding, paying attention, going in a straight line, with the flow of traffic, and an e-bike came barrelling out of a side street, turning left, and struck me. He clipped my front left fender, knocking it to the ground. Did he stop? No. Did others look at him? Yes. This makes me think, even to the Chinese, he was in the wrong, not me.
Tuesday afternoon - I was on said e-bike. I was struck... AGAIN by another e-bike. This time, I was as far right as I could get to the curb. I, apparently, was not moving fast enough (despite having it at full throttle), as the person came by (only slightly faster) and clipped off a section of plastic on the rear left fender. Again, was so much of a slowing down, or a passing "bu hao yi si" uttered? No.
Which brings me to the question: What the hell is wrong here? I think, using deductive logic, I have come to the most probable conclusion: I am invisible to the naked eye when viewed on the left side.
Any similar stories?