When we talk about knowledge, it’s just a simple thing if we acquire it but don’t put it to use. It is only when we put it to work that it can be called wisdom. Most times, the things we know remain mere knowledge and will be of no use if they don’t get the opportunity to be applied.
I’m saying all this based on experience because there are really good pieces of knowledge we learn outside the walls of school, based on experience, and they have become a part of our lives — because experience, they say, is the best teacher.
In my city, we have a double-lane road where both sides are used as one-way roads, which means one side is used by vehicles or motorcycles moving in one direction, while the other is used for traffic in the opposite direction. The middle of the road is divided with a kerb.
Ordinarily, everyone knows that it’s very dangerous to drive in the opposite direction of the road, no matter how tempted one may be to ply it. I too know how dangerous it could be, but because I felt one could easily navigate and go freely, I did not take the caution seriously. So whenever a bike man carried me, I would agree for the bike man to take the opposite side and ride across the kerb as a shortcut.
One day, luck ran out for the bike man that was carrying me, and when we were about to cross the kerb after driving in the opposite direction, just to cut short the long journey of driving far to where there’s a proper spot to cross, another bike, an "invisible one", drove from nowhere and struck our bike. That was it, we found ourselves landing on the ground. Our bike landed somewhere else, and luckily for us, the vehicles and motorcycles that were coming stopped as soon as they saw the accident right in front of them.
People began to shout, a crowd gathered and rushed to our aid, and luckily for me and the bike man, we weren’t injured. It was only the bike that had its parts thrown away. The bike man who hit us also didn’t get injured; it was only his bike that had some scratches.
Pixabay
When we got up from our fall, we knew we were wrong. We had to apologise to the bike man that hit us. The people who gathered, upon seeing that we were not hurt, began to criticise us for using the opposite lane and trying to cross through the kerb.
Ever since that day, I saw the real reason why it’s warned that driving against a one-way lane is not good, and crossing the kerbs to the other side for shortcuts is very dangerous. I stopped it because I learnt my lesson.
Today, whenever I see people crossing the kerbs, I laugh at them because they think they’re smart, but accidents can happen at any time.
Thanks!
