Got Blackberry’d!

Source : nampblog.com

A few days back, I was caught on the wrong side of the law and for once, was thrilled.

I always threw longing glances at a tiny corner bookstore on the busy mainroad near my office and finally mustered the will to enter the place. The only problem, ofcourse, was that Mr. A Zayed (the owner of the store) had not exactly constructed his shop with a parking lot in mind. Therefore, while I was lovingly poring through the titles, the towing guys had managed to pinch away my two-wheeler which had been parked bang opposite the shop. Ironically, I had been reading Osho’s quotes on staying alert at that very moment.

An hour later, when I found the vehicle missing, I cursed my aquarian spirit for its tendency to look for novelty, which invariably courted trouble. Needless to say, I was soon found at the nearest traffic police station with other offenders awaiting our turn to get fined. I was on my second round of “Why did I go there” thoughts when I chanced upon the traffic policeman fishing a Blackberry from his pocket.

Yippee! In a second my mood had brightened. My heart soared! Wow! All these days I had only read on paper about how the face of traffic policing in my city had transformed with the introuduction of Blackberrys to traffic cops. Now, thanks to my careless parking sense, I was about to get a taste of technology at its very best! Perhaps a smart policeman would stylishly jab a few buttons on his mean Blackberry and I would hold the ticket as a souvenier to show my grandchildren. Sigh!

I impatiently waited for the traffic policeman to rob three hundred rupees of my hard-earned(fine…I admit, not-so-hard earned) money. When my turn finally came, I excitedly told the cop my vehicle registration number. He gave me an annoyed glance and slowly reached for the Blackberry on his desk. I creeped a little closer to him so that I could see what was on his screen. It was blank.

I should have guessed how this would go the moment I saw him holding the phone like one would hold a coconut. His eyes strained to read the screen and he tentatively pushed a few buttons. Nothing seemed to be happening. He looked up, scratched his head and went back to jabbing some more buttons. Twenty minutes passed by and the damn thing wouldn’t register my offence let alone print the ticket. He had pressed so many buttons that the phone had hung! Meanwhile, he spared his head and move the fervent scratching to his nose. After what seemed like eternity, I heard a little creaking sound on the tiny printer. Finally! He had accidently pushed some button which seemed to have done the trick.

As I came out thoroughly irritated by the experience, I realised why Blackberrys had been introduced in the first place. So that people will be terrified of parking their vehicles in a no-parking zone lest they get Blackberry’d (read tortured) by the cops!

Source : gogicomics.com

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