I was walking home from the theatre one night a few weeks ago when I found myself face to face with a thirty-something man mounted on an electric scooter -- the kind with two small wheels, a little platform to stand on, and handlebars mounted on an upright thingy. I was on the sidewalk and the street was quite innocent of other traffic.

Scooter Man was larking about with a buddy, likewise mounted, and I rather suspect both of them were at least a little tipsy. He braked just in time to not hit me dead on.

"You have wheels. You belong on the road," I said, pointing into the carriageway.

"But that's dangerous!" he replied, not moving.

"Better you should be scared than you should run me down," I replied, also not moving.

"Bitch," he yelped and swooped away -- but off the sidewalk.

Scooter Man and his buddy were almost certainly tourists, the species that makes summer in Stratford such a mixed blessing. The electric scooter is a newcomer to the local scene and I hope it is a quickly passing fad.