Bike on strike

My bicycle refused cooperation this morning. Then it turned out that the phone stopped working. I had to go across a long stretch of empty green space to get to the more populated area and the bike shop. There it turned out that the man on the till was not a mechanic and I had to leave the bike to pick it up in the afternoon. Two faithful Afghan ladies were waiting for me when I got off the bus. They were smiling to me. 'I thought that maybe you bike broke down.', said one.