Brush With Celebrity
Could it get any better?
Seriously !!
On Sunday, whilst cruising about in a state of utter nonchalance, I found myself daydreaming while traversing the corridors of Virginia. It did not take me very long to come to my senses, when I noticed the familiar sight of flashing lights peeking out from behind my trailer.
What was I thinking !! I knew exactly where I was at, and the fact that I was in complete disregard for my location bit me in the arse. No, it was not a reduced speed zone. But, it is one that is watched with intense scrutiny. In fact, I believe the Smokey Bear who hangs out in this area has a mail box set up on the interstate ramp.
I pulled over to the side and although he gave me a warning for the speed, he did proceed to put me through a level 3 inspection. I assured him that he probably did not want to look at my log book, and he said he would be willing to take that risk. After 10-15 minutes he returned to my truck and gently reprimanded me for being negligent. I was not off by much, but enough to be required to send in some revenue. The sad part is that I was exactly where I was suppose to be, and legally able to be there. I just did not make note of it in my log book that day, or the prior day!! D'oh !! Hey, with all of this truck swapping, I am lucky if I even remember who I am.
After the initial meet and greet, reprimand and recovery from sticker shock, I asked the Officer if he knew he was indeed famous, or infamous, as the case may be.
"What do you mean?" he inquired.
" Well, Mr Smokey, YOU, SIR, are the famous burgundy wrapper that lives at the million dollar get-on ramp. All the truckers know about you!! I knew about you, but I was busy day-dreaming about fire-fighters and forgot to see if you were home" ( okay, I did not mention the firefighters) " Even I know about you, but I was waiting on my com padre to catch up and was busy day dreaming."
About that time, AA creeps by. Later, AA told me that he had never seen a Smokey Bear with such a big grin on his face.
The Smokey seemed pleased to learn of his reputation and as he puts it, " Well, I do work em over pretty hard!" He then waited for me to get ready to roll and escorted me back out onto the interstate. Of course for the next 30 miles, all I heard on the CB was how that dastardly Smokey was shaking his finger at the little girl.
HA! We know the truth, eh??
9 comments:
Oh, Terry. I love your zest for life and for people. It shines through your words - even after having an encounter with the dreaded "task force"! :-)
Another superlative yarn! :-) you really write beautifully and draw the reader into the scene comprehensively - even a bloke like me with little ability to visualise! I truly enjoyed this.
Sweet. Very nice. Did he make you take a pepper spray handling drill, though?
Take care.
Well, Well, two in less that a week. Isn't life sweet! I can just see you and this guy there talking to each other. You paint a pretty picture.
Mama Bear
First it was the fireman, then the policeman. I'm guessing you'll end up meeting a serviceman later on.
Indy, once again, Thank you very much!! I just tell it like it is.
Well HilmarKid, he did caution me to be extremely careful with all those crazies out there, but I did not have the heart to tell him that I needed protection from MYSELF.
And for the record, John II, I do live near an arsenal, so maybe, just maybe I will bump into a serviceman...I have seen a few military convoys lately, but it is not the same!
Terry ..... ANYONE can tell it like it is and be as boring as bat droppings!!!!
When YOU tell it like it is, you bring the yarn completely tolife with your ability to portray the scene so vividly. I know I am a bit biased because I enjoy your presentations (both here and on the tube)so much, but the reality is that even if I would never have seen a single other thing that you had created, I would still have been captivated by this yarn ... and all the others, I might add!
Anyway. Best shut up because I will start to sound like the Terry Fanclub President or something!
Terry, they'll give you the 21-gun salue when you go by the arsenal. :)
I have gone through 55mph zones daydreaming many times not realizing I am driving like a supertrucker. Good story.
It's soooo easy to be daydreaming and not paying any attention to the speedometer (or just going with the flow of traffic) if you have trucks governed back as slow as ours. I've gotten more warnings in a 65 mph truck than I have in a 75+mph vehicle (just 1 real honest to goodness ticket though, knock on wood).
Enjoying the men in uniform yarns, esp. the firefighter one! Hey a friend and I did make a bathroom stop at a firestation in Little Rock on a training run once and we ended up talking with the cute firemen for longer than we should have ;-). Yeah, I did have to tell on myself to James.
Gabby
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