hit and run

Last night I was sitting at outdoor café people watching. This café is unfortunately located next to a canal where sewage travels until dumped into the ocean (nasty, nasty). It does not have the most appetizing smell. Anyway, I was watching two women wearing clothing in the Mauritanian style, which involves draping and tucking until the person is fully covered from head to toe, cross the street. A taxi that was stopped in the middle of the road (for no good reason) began to roll backwards. The taxi hit one of the women who fell onto the road.

I jumped up and ran like a deranged person toward the woman. She was able to stand and did not seem to be hurt. She appreciated my concern since I was the only person of the dozen or so people in the area who came to see if she was ok. I began to yell at the taxi driver for being careless. Another man crossed the street to tell me that it was not this taxi driver’s fault. Instead he laid the blame at another taximan (what taxi driver’s are called) who apparently snatched up the perpetrator’s client. What this had to do with the incident was unclear. After a few seconds of shouting, the taximan pulled away and the two women wrapped in Mauritania cloth walked away.

As an American spectator I was shocked. Although this is not my first run-in with hit and runs, it still amazes me that no numbers were exchanged, calls to the police made, or anything of a formal nature. People shout, blame, and then leave. If that incident happened in New Jersey, the woman would have been able to sue the taximan and get a pretty penny. Instead, she was embarrassed and shuffled home.