14/01/2022 Slippery Sydney

 We had an exciting morning.

We were carrying our grocery shopping home through Marrickville Park early in the morning when we heard a zzzip! behind us, and turned in time to see a bicycle and rider tumble head over turkey onto the paving stones.

"Are you alright?" we asked the woman who winced and groaned underneath the bike.

We relieved her of the bike and she climbed gingerly to her feet.  "I'm OK!" she said.

She didn't look OK.

By now a man, a woman, and a dog had joined us.

"Where are you going?" we said.  "Can we help you get there?"

"I've go to go to an appointment.  But I'll have to go home and clean up first."  She had landed in the mud that was to blame for her fall in the first place.  Her pedal took a bite out of her leg, and she was bleeding.  Between us four we managed to find one tissue to sop it up.  The dog did not contribute.

It transpired that home was a 15 minute walk away and the man ran off to get his car, which was parked nearby.  He was confident that he could fit himself, his partner, the injured woman, the dog, and the bike in his car to take her home.  We walked slowly up to the road to wait for him.  The woman was anxious about her appointment, and looked very uncomfortable.

"Do you want to sit down?"  The dog lady and I asked.  The dog said nothing.

"No, I've got to get to my appointment!  I'm having a scan.  My doctor thinks I've got appendicitis."

I don't think falling off your bicycle is good for appendicitis.

The man arrived in a very small orange car.  We twisted, turned, huffed, and puffed, but we could not fit the bicycle into the car.  We decided that the injured woman would get a lift home, and I would walk her bike home for her.  She gave me detailed instructions and a photograph of her home.  "It's an old stable and it doesn't have a number.  But it's opposite number X."

So Roger got to walk home alone carrying all the groceries, and I got to have a little wander through a part of Marrickville that I hadn't yet explored.  It was very nice once I worked out how to turn the electric part of the bike off, so it didn't keep trying to run away from me.  By the time I got to Opposite X the woman was already home, washing off her mud before her neighbor kindly took her to her appointment.

I don't have any photos.  It's rude to take photos of women who have appendicitis (possibly) and have just fallen off their bicycle, and I've got so used to pretty terrace houses that I didn't photograph any of Marrickville's pretty terrace houses.

Here's a photo of George instead:

The moral of today, boys and girls, is that if you have suspected appendicitis don't ride your bike to your appointment, especially if its been raining.  Take an uber or a taxi instead, or ask your neighbour for a lift.

You have been told.