An Inevitable Occurrence

Gas is extremely important in Jordan. Nearly everyone cooks with gas--we've never seen an electric stove here--and the great majority of people heat their homes with gas. Many people are also starting to heat their water with gas. This gas is not piped into each individual home, though, like water or electricity. Instead, each stove, heater or water heater is fueled by a gas cylinder that costs about 7 Dinars ($10), which is brought to your home by men who drive around all day in trucks filled with gas cylinders, looking out of their windows for people who need gas, while playing in constant loop a song that sounds strangely like the song of an ice cream truck back in the States. If we need gas, we run to the window, shout at them as they drive by, and they bring it up. These trucks come through our neighborhood several times every day, and all look basically like the one on the right.

I have often wondered, though, what would happen if one of these trucks were involved in an accident. What would happen if they were hit from behind? What would happen if they rolled over? Well, today we found out.

I guess it's what we expected would happen. This is not our video, but it did take place not too far from where we live. According to news reports, no one was injured, but a building nearby did catch fire, and vehicles nearby were damaged too. I would guess the poor gas truck was one of them.