Before Those Seat Belt Laws


 First, I must state I am all for Seat Belt Laws although, at times, I forget to Buckle Up-right away.

A few weeks ago, my 13-year-old granddaughter was with me in my car. We left one place and were on our way to another when I remembered, I forgot to Buckle Up! When I did remember I quickly remedied the situation. But it did not go unnoticed by my passenger who was all buckled up and in a bit of shock that I, briefly, forgot.
I was going to explain to her how way back when in the Dark Ages, there were no such things as Seat Belt Laws but instead, we discussed Ed Sheeran. And the day continued on.
Later that evening I got to thinking about those 'No Seat Belt Wearing Days' and a certain car I had when the kids were young came to mind.
It was a Maverick. I loved my Maverick. It somehow earned the nickname, "The Crut Bomb." My kids and most every kid in the neighborhood knew that nickname. That is probably because the Crut Bomb was most always full of kids, mine and the neighbors. We went all over the place in that car. No seat belts were required so the Crut Bomb was quite busy with kids moving around.
If a good song came on the radio, it would get turned up and magically, the Crut Bomb would dance, just slightly and carefully but it did have the beat, especially when "Driving Down the Freeway" was playing.
One sunny, hot summer day the Crut Bomb was loaded with my kids and many kids from the neighborhood. We had been to the City Beach for the afternoon. They were all hot and tired and thirsty and sand was everywhere along with wet towels, sand buckets and shovels, leftover sandy snacks and a few beach balls.
As I was turning to go right off Proctor Avenue and by Eddy's Market and then down Ford Street, I happened to notice a flashing light in my mirror. There was a police car behind me. The policeman was waving me over in the Crut Bomb.
When he reached my window and looked inside the car at all the sand and toys and towels and kids with messy hair and sticky hands covered in sand, he asked me where we had been. I thought that was rather obvious. After taking a longer look in the back seat, he told me to head home. He hurried away, saying, "Have a nice day!"
I thanked him very much and hurried home but not too fast and no magic dancing was allowed from the amazing dancing car, lovingly called, "The Crut Bomb."
(The Maverick in the photo is not my Crut Bomb. I think my car went to Crut Bomb heaven, dancing all the way.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pinch of This and A Dash of That

Image
I recently made a few Raspberry Pies following my grandmother's recipe that is included in a cookbook featuring her recipes. It was put together by her oldest daughter. One of six daughters. I love using her recipes. They are quite simple. Basic. Born out of an era of raising a family on a farm where meals were homemade, and work and chores were nonstop and produce came from the garden, some of that produce eventually canned or stored in a root cellar. In a few of my grandmother's recipes, her instructions include words such as a pinch, a dash, a sprinkle or a hint as ways of measurement of certain ingredients. In the Raspberry Pie recipe, her instruction was to add a pinch of salt. Before, when coming upon that particular instruction, I would put a little bit of salt in a bowl or on a plate and take a pinch of it. Then add the pinch to the other ingredients. But this time I was curious. For whatever the reason, I asked Mr. Google what the instruction for a Pinch of an ingredie
Read more

Those Small Milk Cartons With Straws

Image
I can't remember what elementary grade I was in when taking a morning break to enjoy a small, sometimes cold and sometimes not so cold small container of whole milk with my classmates. The Milk Break was part of the daily schedule. I do remember how good it tasted. The milk didn't come in flavors. Not even chocolate. There was no fat free or calcium enriched or soybean milk. Just whole milk in individual cartons.  The cartons were either opened by the teacher and then the student put a straw into the milk or there was a sealed hole in the carton and either the student or teacher pushed a straw through the hole. Straws were not fancy or colored. They did not have brand names or licensed characters on them. They did not have loops, making it possible to watch the milk go around the loops as a student sucked on the straw. They did not come wrapped in cellophane attached to the carton.  Instead, the teacher would walk around each table full of students, stopping beside each student
Read more

Oh Those Netted Crinolines

Image
I hardly ever wore crinolines under my skirts way back when wearing crinolines underneath skirts was the fad. Not participating in a fad was unusual for me. After all, I ran to a department store located in the downtown of where I lived  the moment Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" grabbed my attention. I had to have bellbottoms and short-sleeved ribbed sweaters. I had to grow my hair down to my waist. But crinolines were a different story. I didn't like all of that netting. I didn't like my skirts pushed way out in front of me even when most of my friends wore crinolines all the time.  However, there are most always exceptions to most anything-even when it comes to wearing crinolines if crinolines aren't your thing. For me, that exception  came when my grandmother made me a velvet green dress to wear to a Christmas party. It was going to be held in a grand old hotel in that downtown where I lived. My date was a Freshman at a nearby college. He was so cute. We
Read more