Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Misadventures Along the Road

This could turn out to be the first in a long series. There have been many misadventures along the way. So, there may be many such posts - the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

I was inspired - if you can call it that - by Lisa's recent misadventure with a punctured tire. I've lost count of the times I have had car trouble of one kind or another.

I did not learn to drive until I was about thirty years old, married and mother of three. It had become inconvenient not to be able to shop much or take children to the doctor's office without depending on a neighbor or waiting until my husband came home from work, so I decided on driving lessons at Adult Ed in the high school. They were an adventure in themselves. This was most apparent when one woman had her turn at the wheel. She was a complete ditz. If she was told to turn, left or right, she would bless herself - up-down-left-right - in order to remember which direction was left or right. At one point she drove down a road which ended in a cross street, and just kept driving across the street and onto the lawn of the house straight ahead. The instructor couldn't believe what she was doing, and temporarily froze, sputtering at her. She just looked at him wide eyed and said, "Well, you didn't tell me to turn." this gal gave us all some bad moments in the car. It didn't surprise me too much. I knew her well as a neighbor. She had six children - two girls, and four boys who were the bane of the neighborhood. Out of control! She used to look at my kids and say wistfully, "I wish mine were as good as yours. How do you make them behave?" I told her that sometimes I said "No!" She told me, "I do, but they ignore me." She was a person who could never make a decision, and just let things happen.
Anyway, I passed my test with flying colors. Ditzy never did get a license, for which we were all very grateful.

Adult Ed class had continued into autumn, when days grew shorter. I should have realized then that I had a problem with night vision. Since the problem had existed all my life, I guess I just thought it was normal for everyone. I didn't catch on to the fact that it was just me until a night much later, when I was driving and Ralph was in the passenger seat. He suddenly yelled at me and grabbed the steering wheel. He wanted to know why I didn't move away from the boys with bikes on the side of the road. I never saw them. That incident put the fear of God into me, and I stopped driving at night. Over the years I have asked a few ophthamologists about my problem. None have found any reason for it, nor cure for it, but I still have trouble finding my way in the dark. I just never drive after sundown.


We covered a whole lot of miles by car during our marriage, from New York to Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, to Delaware and Connecticut, visiting relaives or friends. More than once, we had to return home in a rented car. We threw a rod in the Phymouth in Delaware.

And then there was the time we were coming back from Delaware just before Christmas. We had my mother with us, plus three kids and a large dog. We got as far as Metuchen, New Jersey on the Turnpike. I don't remember now what the problem was that time, but the car died. A police officer drove us to a repair shop. They said they would tow our car to their shop, and rent us one to take home. When we got home and went to the rental place at that end, since it was a Sunday, the man there waved us off and said they would send us a bill.

We enjoyed our Christmas. My uncle came to take my mother home a few days later. Then we started calling Metuchen to see if our car had been repaired yet. They kept putting us off. Finally, the morning of New Year's Eve, Ralph was really getting angry. No answer at the repair shop. He called the Metuchen Police Department and was told - are you ready for this? - they were closed because it was a Sunday. Ralph told me he was going down there. How? He'd hitch-hike. He got there, found the shop closed, but our car was sitting outside. He checked it out. Yes, it had been repaired. BUT all decent parts, including a battery we had purchased a short time before, were replaced with junk. But it was running. He got in a drove it home.

We never heard from them again. Nor were we ever billed for the rental.

9 comments:

kenju said...

I wonder if the policeman who took you there was in cahoots with the garage owner? You're lucky they didn't bill you for the "repairs" and the rental!!

Daryl said...

WOW that is great story.

Dawn Fine said...

Great Story Bobbie...It is nice you put your stories here...some day your grandchildren will come and read them...and on and on...

Sylvia K said...

You always have great stories, Bobbie! Thanks for this one, and how great to have them put down for your kids and grandkids. That's the great thing about blogging -- a way to leave your own legacy of memories, laughter, tears. And you do it so well!

Dianne said...

I love your stories
I didn't drive until my 30s either - actually it was because my son started driving that I finally did

Unknown said...

Car adventures. I think there's something about experiencing driving adventures together that can bring poeple closer; or further apart as the case may be.

I have so many stories, too. Too bad I suffer from permanent writer's block!

Kay said...

Good Gracious, Bobbie! That's terrible. I shall avoid Metuchen if I'm ever in those neck of the woods.

I am probably like that woman who never got her drivers license. I have but I hate to drive. I haven't driven since I retired 4 years ago. This must change. I'll try to buck up and get behind the wheel once we get a smaller car.

Anonymous said...

What a tale - how unscrupulous they were! We share night blindness in common... mine has worsened to the point that I stopped driving at night. Like my dad before me, they can find no "organic" reason. Just suggested if I can't see, then stop night driving (duh!). /Deb

KG said...

What a wild story! I hate car repair places like that because I just KNOW I'm the one getting screwed over, and yet I don't know enough about cars to know that I've been screwed over. My husband took his to get a tire replaced and they patched it up and put it on a different wheel. They basically just tried to shift the tires around so we wouldn't notice while charging us for a brand new tire. I would never have known, but my husband could tell that was what had happened. He was FURIOUS. Anyway, we didn't have to pay for our replacement tire after that. :-)