Afterwards for a year and a half I lived in a 30-something m2 flat with a balcony and a bedroom window facing the busiest avenue in Zagreb, the one that leads to Slovenia. It was amazing, I loved that flat! I got used to the traffic noise after a just few days and would almost always sleep through it like a... well, like SOME babies. It was mostly just white noise.

However, on the weekend nights motorcyclists would use the avenue for racing. Illegally, of course. That is when I had to use ear plugs, which was no problem because I wouldn't need to hear an alarm to wake up.

On 20th June 2021, just after midnight, annoyed by motorbikes ruining my quiet evening, I thought to myself "may they crash into a wall", put the ear plugs into my ears and went to sleep. I woke up to the news of a deadly accident on the avenue. The motorbike crashed into a bicycle. The racer didn't only kill himself, but also an innocent person going about their business.

I still feel guilty for wishing for an accident, although I am not superstitious and I know I didn't contribute to it.

There was also a dog barking across the street, but that didn't annoy me as much as my colleagues during calls.

#trafficAccident #noise