The Ponder Room

The day I held up The Rolling Stones

4
By on 50 Ways To Grieve Your Lover, Behind the scenes, Community, Giggles, Grief, Inner city life, Motoring, Music, People/Interviews

Let me be clear from the outset I don’t mean ‘held up’; as in ‘bang’, ‘bang’, I mean ‘held up’ as in the dictionary definition of … ‘to impede ones progress’. Let me explain…


 


Having recently completed a number of large reports it was time for a bit of a break, and what with it being International Happiness Day and all, what better way to spend it than a trip to the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition at Cottesloe beach (more on this in a later post).
 
Close to lunchtime, it felt like half of the anticipated 20,000 visitors to the exhibition had also turned up today. The only car park I could find was for half an hour which meant I was soon heading back to my city abode.  

Now there are several ways to return home, but some of them are a tad clogged up at the moment, given all the work currently underway. At the last minute I decided to take the more scenic route … as I said, it was International Happiness Day.
 

Moments away from home I noticed a police motorbike up ahead in the street, blue and red lights flashing.  

The previous night a good, responsible, friend had told me her very sorry tale. A tale of how she’d lost ALL of her demerit points due to three minor brain snaps, during the recent holiday double demerit period.

Why is it that only celebrities and sportspeople can get away with that defence?

Anyway under threat of losing her licence for 12 months, she was entering a period of good behaviour. Is that the sound of public transport I hear? Duly noted I looked down to check my speed.

50, phew. 

As I looked up and to my left, a huge black four wheel drive began to pull out of the side street and into my path. Slamming on his brakes, and as a result almost sitting in my passenger seat, I could just see through the darkened glass. A large man was speaking into a two way.

‘Why don’t hands-free rules apply to the occupants of large blacked out four wheel drives?’, I pondered as I continued along the road. 

The images slowly starting to merge in my head, I veered into the first car park I could find.

The black four wheel drive cruised past, followed by three beautifully detailed black town cars, another huge black four wheel drive and more police escorts at the rear. Having worked in consumer psychology for over 20 years, my antennae was well and truly up.
 
Intrigued, and ignoring the man on the two-way, I pulled out and followed the police cavalcade to the end of the street, only to find more police had blocked off all traffic from entering the street we were about to turn into.

It was about then that I noticed the Channel 7 helicopter in the air, and the myriad of camera clad reporters on the side of the road. It was also about then that the penny dropped. What can I say, when I finish a series of reports I tend to switch off my brain for some well earned rest. 

TV crew © The Ponder Room


 

The Rolling Stones were finally leaving Perth after their terribly sad week. 


I had no choice, I had to turn left with the rest of the cars, if I turned right the policeman on duty would have stopped me anyway …

 

Thankfully Cooper, (my car for those who haven’t been following along the exploits of my motoring life), behaved himself. Sitting up straight, correcting his tie and looking like he could possibly, just possibly, be part of an important Rock and Roll jaunt through the city.

For a brief moment I contemplated waving to the other motorists so as not to blow my cover. But instead I pushed my oversized sunglasses further up my nose.

As one, the cars (including me), moved up the hill. I tried to pull the reigns in on Cooper, keep him back just far enough so we wouldn’t appear on any news reports, but he is a headstrong little car, and the whiff of Rock immortality was too great.

As we kept venturing along the road, I put my fate in the hands of the Gods. The traffic Gods to be precise. Declaring that we’d turn away at the very next red light, which would be any minute now knowing my usual luck in the city. But strangely traffic light, after traffic light stayed green … all of them.  

I tried to slink lower in the seat when we came to a large roundabout, which was also manned by police on bikes. But this was hard to do given the seats are already very low in a little sports car. None of the officers batted an eyelid, Cooper was ushered through with the rest of the cars. 

It wasn’t until we reached another set of lights (green), and the cars headed onto the freeway and out to the airport, that I yanked the reins and put a halt to Cooper’s fun. I know it was International Happiness Day, but he’d enough is enough. Besides I could see this ending badly with the man in car one eventually radioing around asking the other drivers, who was in the little car at the end of the line?

 And so I am left pondering … 
  1. How powerful is Cooper’s beauty that for a moment (even the briefest of seconds), The Rolling Stones had to stop in their tracks and bow down to him, to let him through;
  2. If you see a small car in the TV vision that looks really out of place, please, please forgive me, it was all Coopers doing.
  3. How did the other nearby motorists cope when the OJ Simpson car case kept being replayed over and over? I’d never pondered about them before. What if one of them was somewhere they shouldn’t have been at that time?;
  4. But mostly I pondered … I hope The Stones get home safely to give their loved ones a lonnnnng hug. My heart goes out to Mick Jagger, I wish him great strength at this difficult time, and hope he continues to be surrounded by loved ones, not cameras.

Looking forward to their return in October when that trip will be remembered for all the right kinds of memories.
 
To quote from my book 50 Ways To Grieve Your Lover …
‘Keep your chin up so your loved one can look down and see you smile.‘
 
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