I always prided myself on NOT having a cell phone. I come from a long line of phone haters and the thought of actually carrying one of those horrid things around with me was too much to bear. As my neighbor likes to say to the cell phone kiosk salespeople in the mall, "I would rather have chlamydia than a cell phone!"
Then, one day I was driving on the freeway quite a ways from home with Jeffrey and Alice-Grace in the car. I took my eyes off the road for one second and BOOM! I must've hit something because my rear tire just shredded up. I pulled over to survey the damage. Of course, I didn't have a spare tire.
I raised the hood of the car and waited for someone to stop and help me. Nothing.
I got little Alice-Grace out of the car, held her on my hip and tried to look pathetic on the side of the road. Again, no one stopped.
I figured out pretty quick that they don't have emergency call phones on this freeway.
Looks like I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. There were no buildings or houses around, but there was a frontage road running parallel to the freeway with cars going considerably slower that I could easily flag down.
I got myself, Jeffrey and Alice-Grace out of the car and over the freeway barrier. I then hopped off a ledge and brought the kids down with me. Then I had to crawl under a fence (I tried to climb over it, but let's just say that my chain-link climbing days are over). I got a truck to stop and the man very nicely let me borrow HIS cell phone to call AAA.
I then crawled back under the fence, boosted the kids up on the ledge and then -- OOPS! I had easily hopped off the ledge, but soon discovered that it was about a six foot drop with no foot holds and I couldn't get back UP the ledge! Now I was stuck between the freeway and the frontage road.
Then I noticed a steel spike sticking out of the freeway barrier and I got Jeffrey to loop my purse strap to the spike (luckily it has very long straps). I then held on to the purse and used it to help me scale up the wall to get to the top of the ledge.
Success! The tow truck guy soon came and got us and our car back to home.
Needless to say, by the next month I had bought a cell phone.
7 comments:
I just changed my vote to "Sticky." You've proven yourself. You're awesome, Lois, even with a cell phone.
Oh my. That is an adventure. I love how solved your problem of how to get back up!
GEO -- Thanks for the vote. "Ocular Sinister" is Latin for "Left Eye" and "Pterodacula" is a comic book character that I want Nigel to draw (half pterodactyl, half vampire). And "Sticky" is just, sticky (especially since we had pancakes for breakfast this morning).
CW -- It WAS an adventure. Alice-Grace still talks about it and won't go on the freeway anymore. Jeffrey was the hero of the day. In retrospect, it's too funny (in fact, I was laughing at the time, too).
What a tale! Whew!
Perhaps I am a product of my 21st century environment now..quite pathetic...I have a cell phone, but NO landline, NO homephone at all.
Yeah, I know a lot of people with just cell phones, no land lines. I'm so old school that I barely know how to turn on the lights, but I AM asking for a DVD player for Christmas.
I like the old school, Lois. I'm still cell-phone-less (and proud) though this story does make me think twice. Loving your blog.
EMILYANNE -- I love that you don't have a cell phone. Fight the power! I'm glad you're enjoying the blog.
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