Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A husband has told how his wife turned grizzly when he was sent a speed camera snap with a giant teddy bear in the passenger seat.
The reason for the upset was that local privacy laws meant officials had blanked out the teddy’s image, leading his wife to believe he had been with another woman.
Hapless kiosk attendant Metin Erdagi had bought the oversized teddy from a flea market in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, on Sunday, 20th February.
He sat the soft toy on the front passenger seat of his car and set off for his home, in the district of Kasimpasa.
On the way on the D.100 state road a speed camera caught him doing 96 kph (60 mph) in an 80 kph (50 mph) zone.
A speeding fine later arrived at his home and it was his wife Nazan Erdagi who opened the envelope – only to find this photo showing her hubby behind the wheel and a blacked-out passenger seat.
Assuming that her man had been seeing another woman, she flew into a jealous rage.
Metin was apparently unable to convince his fuming wife that his passenger was actually just an oversized teddy bear.
He was quoted in local reports as saying: “Because I exceeded the speed limit, EDS [Electronic Control System] cameras took a photo of my car and sent it home with the ticket.
“They mistook the teddy bear next to me for another human and censored it.
“When my wife opened the ticket envelope and saw this photo, I was put in a tough situation.
“She went into a fit of jealousy. I showed her the teddy bear, but she didn’t believe me. She hasn’t talked to me for a while. I didn’t know what to do.”
Luckily, despite a stint in the doghouse, the couple were able to patch things up, and Nazan forgave her husband in time for the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, which is, amongst other things, a time of forgiveness and mercy for Muslims worldwide.
Metin believes that had Ramadan not arrived, his relationship would have gone from bad to worse.
It is not known if the couple kept the bear.
