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September 7, 2008
Good Citizen Award
Today I was walking back from browsing secondhand bicycles (average price $40-45, which includes lock, basket, and sweet bell) near the Orussey Market when the craziest traffic event I've seen so far happened. A wheel just fell off a passing tuk-tuk (motorcycle w/ 4 passenger trailer). Like, not like a flat tire or anything. The entire wheel came off, and the trailer pitched forward onto the ground with a terrific crash.
The driver and his passengers hopped out to inspect the damage, not really caring that the trailer was stuck in the middle of the road. Everyone on foot stared at the sudden curiosity while the traffic just flowed around on either side at near normal speeds.
To me, looked like a small accident waiting for a big accident to happen. Sure, the motos and bikes could just weave around it, but sooner or later one of those insane black SUVs with tinted windows and RCAF plates was going to barrel through here, and someone was going to get killed.
So I did what seemed like the right thing at the time: I set down my water bottle, and jogged over to help. If we could lift the wheel-less side of the trailer off the ground, then we could push it over to the side of the road, where it would be safer to inspect and repair. It was really heavy at first, but once I moved to help, so did everyone else, and we managed to move it pretty easily. It was really heartwarming to find that all it takes is one person doing the right thing to jolt people out of spectator mode. I got alternately appreciative and awed looks from khmer and westerners alike, for whom it is apparently not a regular sight to see some giant guy run over and lift up a tuk-tuk.
I was practically floating on the good feelings from this act, until I went to the ATM and the security guy called me fat. I was kind of offended, until I found out it was just a mistranslation. Apparently his bad chinglish (he wasn't cambodian) meant he didn't realize the difference between "big" and "fat." So much for karma.
Posted by flynn at September 7, 2008 6:45 PM
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Comments
Hey Gyorgi, he's coming to your town,
Hey Gyorgi, he never wears a frown,
Hey Gyorgi, he's as happy as can be
'Cause everyone in Russia -- oops, Cambodia -- is Gyorgi's family!
(For nonFlynns, that's an obscure reference to an SCTV skit that featured John Candy as a big helpful guy)
Posted by: Ann at September 8, 2008 11:29 AM
That Gyorgi, ha ha ha, what a fellow! If he is not helping someone, he is helping somebody else!
"Oh no, Uzbeks drank my battery fluid! Thanks Gyorgi!"
Posted by: Flynn at September 8, 2008 12:49 PM