On The Side Of The Side Show

 My son is, to use a somewhat pejorative term, a car nut. Many trips down city streets or interstate highways have been enlivened by the discussion of the car that we just passed. Or the car that just passed us. Or the car on the vacant lot on the other side of the road. He is not shy on the topic of automobiles. As referenced here on this corner of Al Gore's Internet, he has become quite proficient at the care and maintenance of motor vehicles. So much so that he will periodically diagnose engine trouble or brake issues from those same passing vehicles. 

He is a fan of motor sports, with the exception of NASCAR, primarily because of its over-reliance on left turns. He's more of a rally guy. Wave the flag and off they go, into the desert or down city streets. Hope the course is clear. He is a fan of speed, and the part where cars sometimes go sideways around a curve, drifting, is a skill he has made attempts at acquiring. Which may explain why his attitudes toward sideshows remain so hard to pin down. These urban demonstrations of acceleration and willingness to use up tires for the crowds that gather on street corners to watch get his attention, if not his love. 

This may be because of the connections that so often occur between sideshows and street crime. For the most part, these squealing exhibitions are primarily an annoyance. The sound and the smell of burning rubber sometimes seem interminable for the home and business owners in the neighborhood, but these disturbances are generally over before the police can come by and take down a few license plates. A big, loud, smelly storm that moves on quickly. Just ahead of the gendarmes. 

Then there's the case that occurred recently just over the hill from us. The street in front of the local market was the site of a sideshow that eventually turned into cover for a car to go crashing into the front of the store, at which point several young men attempted to remove the ATM from the newly created hole in the wall. The owner of the business came out to find out the nature of the ruckus and was confronted with additional youths carrying rifles. He retreated and waited for authorities to respond. 

Unfortunately, the ATM and the perps were gone by the time police appeared on the scene. The wreck of a car was left lodged in the newly created entrance. Unfortunately, my son was not on the scene to provide the make and model, but we're pretty sure that it was stolen. 

Which is why we can't have nice things that go fast.