A somewhat normal person would
pee in his pants. Or at least scream out loud. If you don’t feel like
going straight to heaven, the afterlife, the promised paradise, your next life
or the other side, you just don’t do it.
I thought it was particularly
useful and practical. And for that price, I couldn’t get into a taxi, let alone
go on foot. So there I go. I had just negotiated the price and I was already on
the back of the scooter taxi. The man with whom I have just signed my death
warrant handed me a helmet. For good karma?! I know by now that a helmet in
Vietnam is nothing more than an aluminum pot on your head. Value: about 10 USD.
Because you're worth it?
He starts the engine, accelerates
and I almost fall off the back. My physics teacher has once taught me: a body
at rest wants to stay at rest. I could not estimate the impact of her words of
wisdom when I was 16 years old. Today
in Saigon, I must honor her.
‘Hold on tightly’ is clearly the
message Schumacher wants to give me, so I do. When I spoke to him in the street
earlier, he must have read 'I'm in a hurry' on my face. He races through traffic as if my
life depends on it. Or not, depending on how you look at it.
We go grazing sidewalks, because
there is too much traffic on the road. We drive through a red light, because we
have no time to wait. He bypasses a traffic jam by driving on the other side of
the road. It's nothing more than a kamikaze race. I hold on tightly.
With somewhat clotted hair, I
arrive for my appointment early. Alive and very much kicking! Adrenaline rushes
through my blood and I remember why I'm so crazy about Vietnam.
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