Society : Dashboards And Their Irritating Signals

Every motorist will tell you that besides a car crash, an unexplained light on the dashboard, especially at night, is the next most horrifying thing. Most motorists have their fair share of tales as far as communication with the dashboard is concerned. My cousin once had his car borrowed for a wedding. By nightfall the guy had not returned it. We waited but he never came. When he eventually called, he said the car was displaying a red light on the dashboard. We quickly assumed it must be the fuel gauge but he said it looked like it was indicating an unlocked door. We simply advised him to stop the car; bang all the doors without ruining them and all would be well. But even that would not make the light go away. So the only thing at this point was to establish whether indeed it was a door light. Once we had established that, we assured the fellow to proceed. When he eventually arrived where we were, naturally we were eager to find out the cause of this anxiety. Indeed, it was a door light but what the poor fellow had not known, which also escaped our minds, was the boot. All this time the boot had been open. We all laughed at ourselves. The next time I found myself talking about dashboard symbols, was at a birthday party. Apparently, some know-it-all was busy confusing people about this or that detail on a car. Among his revelations was that the fuel gauge should guide you to know the side that the fuel tank opens. His assertion was that on the dashboard fuel gauge, the side where the pipe is situated indicates the actual side where your fuel tank opens. I was among the first ones to dispute that but the expert quickly charged, intimating ignorance thrives amongst us. There were two cars parked outside and like small schoolboys we all walked out to prove who was right. The poor fellow was caught flatfooted misleading Rwandans. However, that does not mean it does not apply; it does but not in all cars as that hoodlum would want us to believe. However, the all time favourite tale about the dashboard drama came from a family friend, Brenda. Brenda is a cheerful vibrant woman. Since she is a former sales representative, even speed doesn’t thrill her, she has been there, done that. One time, she was driving home from a workmate’s meeting. Time was not on her side, so she was cruising at her usual crazy speed to go and see her children. Just after she had passed the last fuel station, the fuel gauge lit up brightly in amber. For a moment, she contemplated turning back to refuel. But she quickly dispelled the thought knowing that she was not too far from home. She drove another 13 kilometres undeterred by the light that, like a ray of sunshine, brightly shone on her face. She approached the valley she had to cross to get to her house. She drove downhill. So far there had been no drama and she was by now convinced she had made the right call, as returning to refuel would have taken a lot of time. However, as she drove uphill the car coughed. She slammed down the accelerator and the vehicle surged forward. A few metres up the hill the engine gave the final cough and stalled and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree! After much persuasion, the engine wouldn’t come to life. It was beginning to get dark and she feared for her safety, so she quickly rang up her husband. “Dad, imagine I am at the hill and the vehicle has stalled. It is refusing to start.” “What happened mum?” the hubby asked. “Nothing. I was just rushing home and the fuel gauge turned amber,” she explained. “You have run out of fuel,” the hubby said quietly. “It can’t be,” she protested. “The sign was amber it had not turned red yet!” dedantos2002@yahoo.com