Babel
This morning, I had an appointment. I should be there around 11:00 AM. It’s now 9:40. I should have left, oh, about 15 minutes ago. If this were a movie, you’d see a white flash across the screen and see the clock showing 09:20.
It’s 09:20. I say my goodbyes to my dear wife and step out the front door. It’s nippy and when I take off my coat, I can see my nipples standing out through my shirt. I look good. I get in the car and boot my satnav. I input the town: Hardenberg. I input the street: Deventerweg. Actually, I don’t input all of that. I get as far as “Dev” and then the screen shows no streets beginning with Dev. I try again. And again. And once more. I scroll through the list of names by hand and there is still no sign of a street named “Deventerweg” in Hardenberg.
So I whip out my mobile and start scanning my e-mails. I find the e-mail that contains the address and start reading it. It does say “Deventerweg”. I’m confused and close, then re-open that mail. At the bottom it says “Harderwijk”. Which is an entirely different place. Harderwijk is a 22 minute drive. And Hardenberg is about a 90 minute drive.
I would like to thank the people in Hardenberg for not having a Deventerweg. Thank you, very very much. You just made my day.
