I sure hope everybody had a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. No one got blown up? Good.
Friday afternoon Daisy the Mutt and I went for our daily constitutional in Thompson Park. I saw an old girlfriend and her father, Tom there. I have known this family for years. Her older brother was my roommate at The Ohio State University. But these days, her father is in the twilight of his days. He is 91 years old. But forty years ago, he had a zesty, enthusiastic lust for life. He was a notorious lead footed driver and tailgater.
One sunny afternoon, years and years ago, he decided to take his three kids, Steve (known as "Spike", Sean and the youngest, Keely) and three of their friends swimming at the Crucible Management Club. Crucible Steel had a giant mill in neighboring Midland, Pennsylvania. I worked there two of my college years summers. There are plenty of stories about working in the mill, but they will have to wait for me to unroll this story first. Crucible Steel maintained an exclusive club for management. It featured 18 holes of challenging golf, tennis courts, a lavish banquet hall, trap and skeet ranges and an Olympic sized swimming pool.
So Tom bundled up his kids and their friends and headed off to the club. He drove a big ol' Ford LTD station wagon. Keely and her friend took the cargo bay at the back end of of the car and sat up on the tailgate with the rear window open. You could do that sort of thing back then as safety concerns and children was not yet a topic of any importance. Tom decided to take the 'back way' which meant driving that land yacht across unpaved country roads. Soon, Tom found himself behind a driver who was not as enthusiastic about speeding down that crappy road.
The driver in front of Tom admonished him by waving his arm out the window and shouting "Back off! Slow down!" That didn't cut any mustard with Tom and persisted in tailgating that poor guy.
"Back off! Slow down!" the frustrated driver kept motioning and shouting. Finally he pulled over, got out of his car and confronted Tom. "Are you trying to kill someone?" asked the frustrated driver.
Now Tom was used to ferrying his three kids around at a pace he himself found acceptable. But Tom was not used to confronting the victims of his highway bullying. Confused and flustered himself Tom said, "Listen, I've got three six kids in here..."
Sure, his three and their friends made six. But the frustrated driver heard "Listen, I've got three sick kids in here!"
"Oh!. Three sick kids?!? Let me pull off and let you by!"
Sometimes, every once in a while, karma ignores a situation.
Incidentally, Daisy says Hi!
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