Many women catch baby fever – a deep, sometimes irrational desire to have a child.
These aspiring moms-to-be stare longingly at baby carriages, playgrounds and maternity clothing stores. They are drawn to anything that might be connected to an infant. Well, I haven’t been affected by baby fever, but I did fall ill to something of the sort. I’ve caught moped fever.
Walking around Wudaokou, which is known as being a college district, I was entranced by the sea of mopeds around me. The yearning to purchase one of these vehicles grew stronger each day to the point that I could no longer ignore it. I had a serious debate about the color I should get. Aqua seemed like a seasonal color – one suitable for the spring and summer but too bright for the stark Beijing winter. The print of the Union Jack was out since I’m not British. White would show dirt easily. Burgundy was a frontrunner because it would go well with my mainly black and white wardrobe. Next, I went to several stores and got quotes on the price. 2,000 RMB, roughly $300, seemed like a pretty great deal. The only thing that kept me from completing the purchase was a reservation about my safety. No one wears helmets while riding, and that’s rather unsettling to me. Was driving a moped worth risking the most precious thing that I have, my head? The answer should be fairly obvious, but like I said, these kinds of fevers often occlude rational logic.
The answer came to me in an unfortunate fashion when it crashed right into my cab. My cab driver had decided to do a u-turn in the middle of the road amidst heavy rush hour traffic. Two young men on a moped swerved to miss us, but it was too late. I watched helplessly out the window as the men flew off their bike and flesh collided with the pavement. It’s a good thing I’m not planning on being an emergency responder because my reaction time was embarrassingly slow. I breathed a sigh of relief as the two men arose from the ground, seemingly unscathed, except for bloodied arms and legs. I got my phone out, ready to call the ambulance. I wondered if they’d need my contact information since I was witness. But this wasn’t the scene that followed next. There was just yelling, and lots of it. I thought I was hearing wrong when my driver got out and yelled at the bikers as though the accident was their fault. I had no clue what to do at this point, so my only idea was to run away. In the US I would be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, but accident procedures seem to be a little different here. I had my purse in my hands and my feet out of the door when suddenly the cab driver got back in the car. The driver told the men “sorry” and with that small sentiment, we sped away. As I turned around and gazed one last time at the two men, my moped fever broke.
当代社会很多女性朋友都会患上婴儿妄想症，一种深度的，甚至有时会比较荒谬的渴望拥有一个小孩儿。这些非常渴望当妈妈的人会经常羡慕地盯着婴儿车，游乐园和孕妇装驻足很久。他们会被一切与婴儿有关的东西所吸引。还好我现在还有没有显示出这种症状，但是我得了另外一种病—电摩妄想症。
走在五道口的路上，在这个知名的大学城里，我把自己推向了电摩狂热症的深渊。想买一辆气派十足的电摩的热望在与日俱增，以至于达到了一种念念不忘的状态。对于选什么颜色的车，我进行了一番激烈的思想斗争。浅绿色似乎是这一季的流行色，而且很适合春夏的感觉，但是这个色调对于北京萧瑟的冬天来说似乎就太艳了。英国米字旗的图案对于我来说完全没有吸引力，因为我又不是英国人。白色的太容易脏，紫红色是比较好的选择因为和我个人黑白色系为主的行头比较般配。接下来我去了好几个商店了解了一下电摩的行价，一般是2000块钱左右，大概300美金，看过去是一个很不错交易。
唯一的让我还不能付款买下来的担忧是出于安全的考虑。好像在街上骑车的人里没有人带安全帽，这让我觉得非常的不安。难道我为了骑电动自行车要冒着失去我最宝贵的脑袋的风险吗？答案是很显然的，但是就像我说的，这种狂热症会屏蔽理性的逻辑。当我做的出租车撞上了一辆电摩的时候，于是最终的答案以这种很不幸的方式揭晓了。出租车司机在交通高峰期准备在路的中间打一个U型弯，两个骑着电摩的年轻人突然转向想要避开我们的车，但是为时已晚。我亲眼看着窗外的年轻人从他们的车上被撞飞，然后狠狠的摔在了路上。好在我还没有准备要当一个紧急事件的处理者，因为我的反应速度实在是太慢了。看到那两个年轻人站了起来，除了手臂和大腿流了血其他好像并无大碍，我长长的舒了一口气。我拿出我的手机，准备叫救护车。我想他们需不需要我的联系方式，因为毕竟我见证了这一切的发生。但是这些都不是接下来发生的场景。后面的事竟是互相的指责和叫骂。当出租车司机出去对着两个骑车的人大喊大叫，搞得好像事故是他们引起的时候，我还以为我听错了。我当时完全不知道我该做什么，唯一我能想到的就是赶紧离开这个事故现场。在美国我会因为离开事故现场而被罚款，但是这里的事故处理程序似乎不太一样。我手里攥着钱包，就在我打开车门准备离开的时候，出租车司机回到了车上。司机情绪稳定地跟我说了句“不好意思”，然后我们就驱车离开了。当我最后一次回头望向那两个年轻人的时候，我的电摩妄想症痊愈了。