Sometimes karma delivers.
Like it did last week, to the sour-faced driver parked on zigzag lines hard against the zebra crossing on Palmerston Road at the back of Union Square.
I was trying to get over the road, but had to peer gingerly round the side of this outsized four-by-four to make sure I wasn’t going to walk into moving traffic.
My stony stare at the wifie sitting behind the wheel earned me a look of indifferent entitlement, with just a hint of a curled sneer. Clearly, I was an oik with attitude, presumptuous enough to question her right to put pedestrians in danger.
And it wasn’t just this madam. You couldn’t see the zigzags or double-yellows either side of the crossing for parked cars, engines running, just putting their convenience ahead of the safety of others.
So, imagine my delight when, at that precise moment, a cop car came round the corner and pulled up into a space further down the road. I swear the bobbies stepping out of their car were caught in a shaft of heavenly sunlight as angelic choirs sang hallelujah.
The response from the swarm of danger-parkers was hilarious. They scattered like a pack of hyenas confronted by lions. So much so that there were a couple of near misses as the panicked motorists tried to pull out in front of each other to escape a telling-off and a ticket.
I would have loved to watch Mrs Discovery’s resting haughty face turn to wide-eyed flight mode. That’ll learn ye.
But, the question is, will it? It was great to see the police move in and the motorists move on, but I wager others will replace them, day in, day out. I know because I see it morning and night as I wend my way home.
I’ve even seen someone stopped right on the crossing itself – and getting foul-mouthed when people have shown their irritation at their stupidity.
And it’s not just at this one spot. Selfish drivers seem to abound in Aberdeen. Just ask Ean Watt, the campaigning wheelchair user speaking out against the now illegal act of pavement parking that poses a danger to all and sundry. Let’s hope his concerns are heard, because they really need to be.
Just on Saturday, I was sitting in a restaurant in Rosemount watching a shiny, massive Mercedes mount the pavement, forcing a dad pushing a pram to make evasive manoeuvres. That was a sliding doors moment away from tragedy.
While karma delivered at Palmerston Road, it can’t be everywhere all at once. So, wouldn’t it be nice if some drivers stopped being thoughtless, took a tumble to the risks their actions posed and just, well, acted sensibly?
Until then, though, let’s hope Ean’s voice can be heard – and that the girls and boys in blue keep up the good work of making the foolish see the error of their ways.
Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired
Conversation