Prior.
What a wanky little word. For people too posh to say ‘before’. Bandied about with abandon — which in this case is neither wild or reckless — and thrown into documents by muppets who feel that more equals more. Bake these puppies in the oven for half an hour:
Prior experience — good one. As opposed to the experience you haven’t had yet…
Prior knowledge — the twin of prior ignorance.
Close to the city now.
There was nothing to do except sit back and wait while the autodrive idled the truck forwards. This last half hour is even worse than that spooky part of the desert — at least then I could drive.
The convoy of trucks crept towards the city gates, one at a time pausing for the scan. Now it was the turn of the truck in front of me.
They scanned him. But still the truck did not move forward. A second sweep with the laser. Still no movement.
Wait a minute.
My truck, along with the others, started backing up.
What’s going on? This hasn’t happened before.
Then we stopped. The truck in front of me rolled forward again, pulling out of line, and coming to a halt. The procession of trucks started moving forward again.
I looked through the windows of the cab as I went by. They were an electro-sensitive tint, but still I could make out the driver as he thrashed about, his feet making only the slightest vibration as they smashed against the passenger window. For a second I saw him, wide-eyed, shiny-faced, but that door wasn’t opening… Then the windows turned opaque.
That’s… unusual, I thought. But then I thought of how tired I was and how good a cold beer would taste.
A voice came through the truck intercom: ‘Driver, please prepare for scanning.’
I placed my hands on the dash and closed my eyes.
The light flickered green through my eyelids and my throat itched. I felt the truck move forwards into the tunnel and the itch in my throat made me cough.
What was I thinking about again?
Sweet mother of God. The entire month of January has past by in a blur. I can remember sneezing, then as the flashing lights cleared from my eyes, I can vaguely remember drinking a beer.
It was nice and cold, but when I finished I needed to have a little sleep.
I woke up and it was February 4. Goddamnit, not only did I miss January, I’ve gone and missed the last weekend as well. It seems I hardly have time for anything these days except work, sleep and drinking copious quantities of beer.
I had to burn my last blog to the ground — it was best for all concerned. Now under the cover of anonymity, I can write what I really think. Or alternatively, I can spout shit and no-one will actually know whether I’m being serious. I can write without worrying that people I know will read it. I can write without the writing being tainted by the readers’ knowledge of the author.
And as with other great freedoms, I can now peer pensively off into the distance thinking ‘Hmmmn, what should I do with it?’.
