Why I love living on Argyle Street
This afternoon, as I sat at my window sorting through school papers, my attention was directed to the street below my window by a series of angry shouts. As I turned to gaze out the window I saw one small-ish and rather drunk man chasing a black taxi down the street screaming for it to hault. As the cabbie ignored Drunk Man's angry shouts and kept driving, Drunk Man decided to place himself in front of the taxi, successfully bringing it to a halt as well as several cars behind it. As Cabbie could no longer drive he leaned out his window and began shouting at Drunk Man. They continued to shout at one another for several minutes until Cabbie lost his temper and stepped out of the car.
For several minutes Cabbie attempted to remove Drunk Man from the street with a series of rough but well meant pushes. However, every time Cabbie attempted to get back inside his vehicle Drunk Man would again step into the street, blocking his progress. When it became apparent that Drunk Man was not to be deterred, Cabbie once again lost his temper, got out of his cab and began to punch and kick Drunk Man in the face. For readers who may feel sympathy for Drunk Man, I ask you not bestow too much sympathy on him as he did start the argument and did not appear to be seriously injured. Therefore he could not have been kicked very hard and in any case, he was most likely too drunk to really feel it.
At this point, Cabbie again proceeded to drive his taxi up the street and actually made a bit of progress before Drunk Man once again stepped in front of the cab. When Cabbie once again exited his vehicle, Drunk Man forcefully kicked the car door shut leaving a rather large dent. The two men then proceeded up Richardson, a cross street of Argyle, and Drunk Man skillfully used a street sign left by workers, brandishing it as a weapon. After thrusting it at Cabbie, Cabbie seemed to loose all patience, got back into his cab and proceeded in the opposite direction up Richardson.
And all the while, the residents of Argyle Street have been gathering in their windows and on their porches to watch the progress of the war of Drunk Man and Cabbie. Ila and myself were busy watching the progress from any window possible in our flat. A few moments after the fight began she pounded on my wall and we proceeded to run from window to window, choosing those which would allow us the best viewing.
Like I said, I could write a book about the strange habits of the British people...