It is usually very hot over here. Many times, I wish it rained so the temperature could drop and I wouldn't have to feel disturbed by the heat every now and then. The problem with that, however, is that the rain often poses some other kind of unfavorable condition. And it varies in different places.
In the area where I reside now, rain does us a lot of good by helping our vegetation, as there are practically farms around us. My place is more or less underdeveloped. There aren't tarred roads or proper drainage systems. The grounds are bare soil, mostly clay, that gets pretty messed up when it rains.
Usually, especially from our experience, we avoid going out when it rains, as the roads would be awfully terrible. This would be during the rain and hours after the rain. Taking vehicles, therefore, would be like a scene in Fast & Furious, as there would be a lot of undesirable drifting and sinking if you were very unlucky.
One day, however, it was very important that I step out to get some things in the neighborhood. There were signs that it was going to rain, but because my head is so big and stubborn, I thought I could make it back before the rain got serious. I couldn't have been more wrong on that blessed day.
It wasn't long after leaving the compound with the SUV that the rain started with a heavy downpour. I felt, well, the rain is just starting, and so the ground wouldn't be all bad just yet. And so I continued.
The rain got heavy so quickly, and then the ground was covered in mud everywhere. "No worries," I said to myself. "I have learned from my mother how to manage situations where the car may be losing its grip on the ground." I continued. Indeed, I was prepared to succeed, but then I missed something.
There was a gutter on the right that had been covered in streams of water. The streams of water covered more than the gutter, and so I didn't see that I was going to fall into the ditch. "Vroom, vroom." I stepped on the throttle so as to deploy my advanced maneuvering techniques to salvage the situation, but I missed the gutter and, bam, I fell into it.
"Oh, shoot!" I exclaimed. I knew that things had just gotten terrible. The merciless rain still continued to shower while I tried to get the vehicle out.
The SUV, as high as the chassis was from the ground as compared with cars, wouldn't go any further. I thought to reverse, but for some reason, reverse wasn't working. I was stuck. It was in that moment that I knew I had messed up.
As it continued to rain, I knew that the streams of water continued to wash up more and more sand that the car's rear tire on the right stood on, and so it was getting more stuck with every passing second. I couldn't do anything in that moment, so I turned off the engine and waited till the rain stopped.
The rain stopped not long afterwards, and then I got out to check the stuck tire and see how bad the situation was. On evaluating the situation, I knew that I was going to need more hands than I was born with to get myself out of the muddy situation I was in.
My mother is a reputable and popular person in my neighborhood, fortunately for me. And so when people that were passing by saw that her son, was stuck, they just couldn't walk away and ignore it. And in a matter of minutes, people gathered around, putting their heads and hands together to help me.
Some part of the rear of the chassis was already sitting on the ground, so the tires just couldn't pull the vehicle out.
We tried a lot of improvisations to get it out: we tried adding more soil and bricks to provide the tires with more traction to drive the vehicle out of its mess. We also tried pushing the vehicle as the driver drove. My mother, the bad-ass driver, came to drive herself. Still, all to no avail.
After spending so long there—maybe two hours—we eventually got help from one of our neighbors who had a tractor.
They had some kind of heavy-duty rope that they secured the SUV with and tethered it to the tractor. And in a matter of seconds, the tractor pulled out the vehicle while the driver—a different person this time—drive the SUV to control its motion out of the mess. And, voila, the vehicle was out.
Some parts of the vehicle got affected, and so we needed to run repairs for them. Nevertheless, the car was still drivable afterwards.
I couldn't thank my neighborhood enough for coming through for me. I sure wasn't glad I took so much of their time and energy, but I considered myself privileged to be around such kind people.
A valuable lesson I learned that day was to never assume in such situations and to play it safe, as it is better than being sorry.
Hopefully, with time, my neighborhood will improve, and we'll have our roads and drainage systems properly done. Till then, I'll keep my head low when it rains again.
GIFs by Tenor