Last night I was one of the cars you see on the local news which spun out of the road. Being stuck for 2 hours in a ditch by a highway, facing oncoming traffic, in a snow storm (even a puny, Richmond one) gives you time to reflect a little.
First the positives - I made much headway into Gulliver's Travels. I have it on my Kindle and so I had some good reading material. It was nice to be able to just sit and read - what else was I to do?
It says something that the only way I get to sit still for a couple of hours to read in peace and quiet is when I am stuck in a ditch.
Now for the more bizarre parts. The police was very prompt, and even prompter issuing me a ticket (court summons really) for "reckless driving"...what?
After about an hour (and countless cars, including many of my co-workers) a guy stopped with his pick-up truck, and said that for $30 dollars he would tow me out. That's the spirit! Spirit of something, but perhaps not Christmas.
After that another half an hour and a lady stops to make sure I am ok. Very nice. After her another pickup truck - also wanting money. Then a towing service. I had called AAA and was waiting for tow, so for a moment there I had a glimmer of hope, but no. The gentleman came out and proceeded to tell me how late AAA was running and how cold it would get in my car. So if I needed any help he would be glad to help me...for a fee.
Finally finally the AAA tow truck shows up (2.5 hours later). he then proceeds to tell me how he woke up feeling really sick and was throwing up all night but that his boss made him come to work anyways. Great! A disgruntled tow truck man. I confess that it did make me a little nervous.
After half an hour of tugging and pulling I was finally set free. Of course with the small glitch that I was now facing incoming traffic, and had to somehow do a 180 in slippery conditions in the middle of a freeway.
But all's well that ends well. Apart from about $1000 of damage to the door of my car, there really was nothing but a lot of sitting and reading, and this small slice of humanity.
