Turns out the story of Nero fiddling while Rome burnt might be an urban legend but this modern day story is true (tip Anantha via Über Stories). [link]
“Appa, the car heater seems to work better when the car breaks down”
Khushboo Jani, a 23 year physics major, sat in her car chatting on a cell phone even as the car was starting to catch fire. Luckily for her, Demetrius Duplessis, a snowplow driver with the Illinois Department of Transportation, one of the guys who go about clearing snow on the roads daily, noticed this and pulled her to safety, even when she mistook him for an assailant.
The funny part of this story, Khushboo was more concerned about missing her physics final exams than her car burning, with her in it!! She even tried to go back to the burning car to “rescue” her physics book. Now that is one dedicated student!
The desi flavor to this story is overwhelming – desi physics student, 1996 Honda Civic, chatting on cell phone oblivious to surroundings, more concerned about exams than her life. As for Demetrius, he just shrugged off the accolades. “I just did it” he said. Good work!!