» Breakin' The Law

Dictator themed anecdote
My girlfriend is a pretty good driver, but she does get nervous, particularly when faced with lots of traffic. The streets of Harare provide plenty of same and she was having difficulty pulling out for a right turn into a particularly busy street. So when a police car and several motorcyle riders go by and the street suddenly empties, she seizes the chance and we're on our way (in our *stunning* ice white Beetle I'ld like to add unneccessarily). Next thing I know some kind of military vehicle pulls up alongside, soldiers waving furiously. I try to bring this disturbing development to the attention of the driver but alas, the stress of the driving so far seems to have caused her to stick her brain into mono-tasking mode and she's focussed on the road ahead and little else. Next thing I know there's another military vehicle alongside and the soliders have stopped waving and started pointing what look to me very much like machine guns -- they actually look quite bewildered, in stark contrast to my girlfriend who is confidently and obliviously making good progress in the still-empty road, although I will not see the humour of this until much later. I quickly assess the situation and calmly scream directions "JESUS CHRIST PULL OVER AAAGGGGH". She does and I live to make this post. It turns out that everybody's favourite Nazi Dictator, Bob Mugabe is using the road (I actually get a great view of his murderous head as he whizzes past in his posh limo) and, man-of-the-people that he is, has passed a law making it illegal to use any road at the same time as him, on penalty of death it would appear.
(Fri 9th Jan 2004, 12:28, More)