that came later mean

[shinem]

In this sentence what does 'that came later' mean?

I was almost hit by the first taxi that came by.What was I
doing standing in the street? I got back on dry land and
waved at another car. It wasn’t a taxi, but the driver waved
back.The only disaster I escaped was walking into melting
chewing gum.That came later. I’d forgotten all about the
sound of the wind whistling down this canyon of highrise
hospitals and head offices

[bhaisahab]

In this sentence what does 'that came later' mean?

I was almost hit by the first taxi that came by.What was I
doing standing in the street? I got back on dry land and
waved at another car. It wasn’t a taxi, but the driver waved
back.The only disaster I escaped was walking into melting
chewing gum.That came later. I’d forgotten all about the
sound of the wind whistling down this canyon of highrise
hospitals and head offices

The speaker walked into melting chewing gum later.

[shinem]

But in this sentence "The only disaster I escaped was walking into melting
chewing gum" isn't he talking about that he escaped from being melted? Did I understand right?

[bhaisahab]

But in this sentence "The only disaster I escaped was walking into melting
chewing gum" isn't he talking about that he escaped from being melted? Did I understand right?

No, he escaped walking into melting chewing gum, not melting into it.

[shinem]

Oh that means he escaped from being a melted chewing gum by a taxi but couldn't escape from being melted by sun? This is a complex sentence for me :(

[5jj]

Oh that means he escaped from being a melted chewing gum by a taxi but couldn't escape from being melted by sun? This is a complex sentence for me :(

No. He escaped, at that time, from walking into chewing gum that was melting. However, he did later walk into such goo. 'That came later' could also be expressed as:

That was to come later
That would happen later.
I did that later.

bhaisahab explained that the chewing gum was melting, not the speaker.

[shinem]

Ah ok, my mistake is that I was understanding gum as a metaphor. Ok, thank you very much :)

[5jj]

Ah ok, my mistake is that I was understanding gum as a metaphor. Ok, thank you very much :)

You've got it. He really did step in that horrible goo - later.

[shinem]

:)) Thanks!!