just thumbing!

Police escort to school

      I was going through my Facebook account looking at the news feed and came across the pic above and although I don’t remember this particular incident as it pre-dates me , I do remember another I had that ended up with me receiving a ride from a State Highway patrolman to school.

     Some days when I would get up around 6 in the morning , I would head over the hill first thing after grabbing a cup of coffee,  Mom’s favorite Maxwell house instant , of course( never knew coffee could taste good till I left home and started buying it in restaurants). After truly understanding what a cup of mud would taste like I would head over the hill looking for the cattle.

     Sometimes it was easy to find them and at other times you swore they were all abducted by aliens , as they were nowhere to be found, except the last place to look , and it was usually an obvious place. Well if you were late, you still had to bring all the cows in to get the one you needed to milk so you would herd them in running this way and that heading them off and all the while trying to avoid the cow piles, doing the pasture polka because the shoes I had on were the same ones I wore to school usually. So avoiding the piles would save me some humiliation later as it was usually in home room when they were taking attendance the fresh green crap would appear on the sides of my shoes if I wasn’t careful. It wasn’t just the telltale evidence clinging to the sides of my shoe but the smell that would suddenly emanate from my shoes, when I discovered it ,  that would make me self-conscious.

      So from the time I would get up till I was headed down the lane I was in a hurry and had no time for things like cows I couldn’t find to happen. But it did on occasion, and when it did I would be going twice as fast and more things would happen and next thing I knew I was late for the bus.

      This particular morning things were going horribly wrong. I couldn’t find the cows and when I did the old cow was grumpy and the flies were so thick early in the morning and I believe she hit me in the face with crap dipped tail and wrapped it around my face requiring me to take another bath as soon as I finished milking . Soon I was headed down the lane knowing the bus had already gone but I couldn’t tell till I was at the bend in the lane and could see the end, and realized it was all over as the bus had already gone.

        I continued on partly because I was headstrong and knew I could thumb my way to school hoping a friend or neighbor might see me and pick me up as it wasn’t that late yet. I went past the end of the lane and continued on out onto East Sparta Ave. and then on out to the state route, with my books in my hand. I crossed over the road and embraced myself for thumbing a ride. I stick my thumb out and the first car that comes along is a State Highway patrolman and he pulls over. My heart sank as now I thought I am in for it. A ride back to the house and lecture on why I shouldn’t thumb. Instead I was greeted by a nice officer and he told me to get in .

       I jumped in and he asked if I was headed to school as he saw my books and I said yes, he then asked if it was Sandy Valley as he knew the area and again I said yes.

    He asked if I was late, and I said no not yet but should make it to home room with this ride and he said he was going past the school and would drop me off. I was relieved he didn’t take me home or give me a lecture, instead I found him to be a pleasant and understanding person regarding why I was late and he admired the fact that although I missed the bus , I still wanted to go to school , that I would actually go thumb a ride to just get to school , and although he advised me against it , he said he understood.

      Maybe not as much as he wanted to as school was a relief outlet for me, if I was home I was expected to be working. Homework and school was the only reason to get out of work. If I stayed home either mom would take me to school or I could stay home and weed the garden or she would find something else for me to do. There was no easy choice but school for me. That was why I was thumbing as mom’s car was broke down and I would have to stay home and work. Thumbing was the option.

      He told me he was headed to James coal mine and that he had to ride shotgun on coal trucks as the unions were fighting against the non-union mines much like they were in the above pic, and that he needed to escort the coal trucks. That is why he was coming down the road at that moment.

      I could remember hearing about the trouble and how one semi-truck driver had his window shot out as he was driving down the road prompting the Ohio Highway patrol to get involved. I asked I f he was scared, and he said yes that anytime someone resorts to violence to achieve something they want it isn’t good. Because he was there may not make a difference to anyone brazen enough to brandish a gun to get what they want. He said his cruiser was just a target, as he hoped he wouldn’t be.

      By this time we were pulling up in front of the school beside a couple of school buses with kids getting off. I thanked him and he told me to watch who I took rides off of and to try and not thumb if I could. I told him good luck on that job he had to do. And he took off.

     With books in hand I headed up the front walk to the school and was soon surrounded by a bunch of kids doing the same wondering why it was the State Highway patrol was escorting me to school and of course I told them I killed a guy and soon they were saying no way. And of course I said no, but the truth was not quite as elaborate as the lie. Telling them I was late and I was thumbing a ride was not as glorious but for me it was an experience I will never forget, as it showed me the human side of a police officer when faced with uncertainty of how his day would turn out would still take time to help someone less fortunate and in the process leave me with a good impression of what person should be like.

      I watched the paper and although there was a story about the escort of the truckers with State Highway patrol, no other shots were fired and eventually the unions gave up their struggle to unionize.