Desiree rode her motorbike to work, roared up the driveway and parked it in the yard at the printing company. Feeling perky, she knew she looked ultra spunky in her shorts and skimpy top. She didn’t give a moment’s notice to the fact that her dad would’ve had a fit if he’d known she’d ridden to work dressed like that.
Upon arrival, with a quick ‘hi’ to a couple of her workmates, she sat down at her desk. The telephone rang and she picked up the receiver nonchalantly.
“Are you the young woman seen riding a motorbike in peak-hour traffic this morning along Devil-may-care Street?”
Desiree, made anxious by the man’s tone of authority, confirmed that she had been in that location.
“This is Sergeant O’Gravity. Your attire constituted a traffic hazard. You will be charged with Public Nuisance and Dangerous and Reckless Driving. Several insurance companies will be wanting to have a word with you as well.”
Aghast, Desiree mumbled: “Oh my gosh… I… um… but I didn’t hit anything…”
“Your inadequate clothing was dangerous both to yourself and fellow motorists. Several cars ran off the road because their drivers were drooling…”
Desiree glanced up when she heard muffled sniggering, and saw a knot of her male work colleagues clustered around another telephone. She suddenly realised it was one of THEM talking on the phone. She slammed hers down and burst into tears, her feel-good day shot to bits.
But she learnt a valuable lesson that day. Several, in fact – about road safety; about sexist workplace bullying; about seeing the funny side of things; and about the dangers of tempting fate. And finally, she realised that her father was right to be upset about the lack of protective clothing she should have worn when riding her motorbike.
It was a good thing she lived to learn these lessons.