When I was about 6 years old, Mother took m shopping in Marietta. Mother was a hard worker and had little time for anything other than her church, Daddy, her kids, and her parents. But she had ONE passion: SHOPPING! Even if we had no money, when she found time on Saturdays, off we’d go. Her favorite places were downtown Marietta, Greenbriar Mall, and downtown Rich’s Department Store.
On this particular Saturday, Mother took me and Debbie to Marietta Square. It was a day of browsing, trying on clothes, putting things back, and maybe a few purchases.
There was an underpass on one of the main highways around midtown, and a tractor trailer truck was stuck under a bridge overpass. It evidently thought it was short enough not to hit the overpass. It wasn’t.
The men had been working for hours to get the truck free. I was so little, I don’t know what they tried, but I saw many kinds of equipment around as we stook watching.
Finally, at some point, Mother turned and looked at me and Debbie kinda funny and said, “Wait right here.”
She walked down to where the men were working and pointed in our direction. They hit their heads in a V-8 moment. From the funny look Mother gave me, I assumed she had given them my suggestion for getting the truck free.
Sure enough, within 10 minutes, the truck backed out and waited to get back on the road. I’d told Mother before she went to talk to them, “I bet if they let the air out of those big times, the wouldn’t be stuck no more.”