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Much more than the buzz-word of the day...Insightful commentary and amazing links
By Tarek Atia
Traffic
OJ's road rage looks strange
(cairolive.com, October 28, 2001)
OJ Simpson's road rage trial currently going on in
Florida provides a vastly alternate vista from the
sights we see on a daily basis here in Cairo.
OJ -- the former football star who seems to court
trouble wherever he goes these days -- now lives in
Florida. One day, while driving down the street in his
quiet suburban Miami neighborhood, Simpson found
himself being honked at by another motorist when he
failed to stop at a stop sign.
Simpson got out of his car and started yelling at
Jeffrey Pattinson, the man who had honked at him.
According to a report in USA Today, Simpson, said, "So
I blew the stop sign. What are you going to do? Kill
me and my kids?"
The paper describes the rest of the confrontation as
such: "Simpson allegedly approached Pattinson's SUV,
reached in and pulled off his glasses, scratching
Pattinson's forehead."
Pattinson pressed charges, but Simpson's lawyer Yale
Galanter is arguing that his client only "brushed
against Pattinson."
If convicted, Simpson -- who was found not guilty of
murdering his wife and another man in an unforgettable
world famous trial a few years ago -- will face a
possible 16-year prison sentence.
When placed in front of the altercations of a very
similar sort that occur on nearly every Cairo street
nearly every day, the Florida road rage incident
appears trivial, and the punishment incommensurate.
Cairenes -- who are used to actual accidents never
even progressing towards investigations of true
accountability -- would say, "What's the big deal?"
about the Simpson story. They should thank God that no
one got hurt, and go on their way.
Then again, it may be wise to also consider that if
you don't pay attention to the details, the bigger
stuff tends to slip away.
Somewhere in the middle -- between the finicky, and
often greed-manipulated manifestations of there, and
the loose, all's good in the end permissiveness of
here -- there is a middle ground of reason and
accountability that holds the key to mankind's
survival.
Help us find it. Post your thoughts to cairolive.com
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