Car Trouble
Residing in Florida while having
parents living in Massachusetts meant I put hundreds of miles on my car each
year as I made that trek up the Eastern Seaboard twice a year: once in summer
and again for Christmas vacation. (In 65 years, I have only missed one
Christmas with my family!)
In the pre-cell phone days on the
late 1970’s, most of these semi-annual drives were uneventful but one still
resonates with me as a cautionary tale for the driver of an 11 year old car
whose main power source was 4 cylinders that possessed the torque of 4
squirrels!
On our way to Danvers for Christmas
holidays, Mesmerelda (my 1967 Ford Pinto coupe) and I were enmeshed in the
harrowing experience of navigating Washington DC’s Beltway when I heard a thunk
from behind me, but nothing happened with my car. No jolt. No hitch in the
engine putter. Slowing down was impractical as all 4 lanes were
bumper-to-bumper at 60+ miles an hour! Pulling over to the shoulder was
impossible as no shoulder existed.
After a moment of minor panic, I
realized Mes was performing just like always, puttering along, so I kept going
up through Maryland and Delaware and onto the New Jersey Turnpike. (The car got
exemplary gas mileage and I had figured I would be safely through New York
before I had to stop.)
At each tollbooth on the Turnpike,
I had progressively more trouble getting her into gear after paying the toll,
but the looming tenements and buildings of the Oranges freaked me out, so I
kept going north.
At the first tollbooth in
Connecticut, Mes gave up her fight. I could not get her into gear at all and
she had to be pushed to the side of the toll road in the dark. A call by the
tollbooth operator to AAA resulted in a tow truck’s eventual appearance. When
he delivered me to his gas station, it was approaching 9:30 PM. I got
permission to call Mom and Dad collect to inform them I would be delayed
getting home as Mes has developed a leak in her transmission line (probably
during that Beltway Thunk) so I was probably going to be spending the night in
this service station as the repairman did not come to work until the morning.
Mom reacted with her usual aplomb,
taking contact information and telling me not to worry about anything. She was
glad I was safe and in no danger.
About 30 minutes after I hung up, a
Connecticut State Police cruiser pulled into the station. The officer who got
out came up to me and said, ”If you’re Marty Mayer, your mother sent me.”
Say whut!!!!
Mom had called the Conn State Police
and request aid!
I was driven to a local motel with
assurances that I would be picked up the following morning and returned to my
car!
That happened. Just as Mom ordered.
Mes was repaired within a very
short space of time and I motored safely home.
The morale of this tale: AAA is
valuable but a mother who protects her cub is without price!!!
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