i am not afraid of many things.
i'm not afraid of motorcycle gangs
i'm not afraid of rats
i'm not afraid of snakes
i'm not afraid of being alone
i'm not afraid of the dark
i'm not afraid of public speaking
i am afraid of bugs (i mentioned it in an earlier posting) and i am afraid to drive on the highway (i never used to be but i am now. i wasn't in an accident. i don't know how when or why it happened, it just did). i know if there was an emergency i COULD do it. i also did it a while back when my dear friend 's' and his lovely wife 'j' asked me to drive them to the airport (they have done me SO many favors, there was NO WAY i could say no). of course it was at 4 am so the traffic was light. it was the middle of winter and still dark when i got home from driving them. i left my car at their house (we couldn't take my car cause we couldn't fit in it. i'm a pack rat and there is NO ROOM in my car anywhere BUT the drivers seat) and we took their car. 's' drove us to the airport and i would be driving myself home. so i get back to their house and pull the car into the driveway. I COULDN'T GET THE DAMN CAR KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION. i knew there had to be a release button somewhere, but it was winter, it was PITCH BLACK OUT. i had no flashlight and i was still shaking from the highway drive. i am NOT exaggerating when i say it took me well over 15 minutes to get that key out. couldn't find the dome light button either - i used my lighter to find the release. DAMN THEM. but i digress.................
i wanted to get a gift certificate for my niece at target yesterday. i had never been to target, but there is one just past westfarms mall at the other end of my town. i got in the left hand lane (there were two left turn lanes. i was in the right hand left turn lane) which i thought was going straight into the target driveway. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO as soon as i started to turn, i saw it was an entrance ramp to the HIGHWAY. there was nothing i could do. i couldn't stop, i couldn't turn around, i HAD to keep going. go i did until i saw the first exit which of course i took. do i turn right or do i turn left at the exit? well i of course chose the WRONG direction. i chose right (later, i find out from a friend if i chose LEFT, i WOULD have ended back up near the mall). i ended up in new britain. i went by the new britain museum of art (a GREAT one by the way! they have dusk by maxfield parish among many other things). i ended up by the hospital, i ended up by the polish restaurants (new britain has an inordinate amount of poles and a TON of polish businesses among which are (from what i hear) some exceptional restaurants. i SHOULD have stopped and gotten myself a pierogi but there are a lot of things i SHOULD have done. i saw a police officer by a construction site and asked him how to get back to my town. he told me to keep going straight and i'll see a sign for route 72 east which will take me to i-84 which will take me to west hartford. well that involved MORE highway driving but i was desperate and i WAS going to do it no matter what. well i kept driving straight and saw a sign for 72 WEST so of course i drove right by it (i think that 72 west had a link to 84 EAST but that is now in hindsight) and became MORE lost. i ended up in forestville and berlin and on the border of southington. oh, i kept stopping and asking for directions. i called everyone i knew and no one was answering the phone. i saw a soldier in full cammo regalia with jaunty beret and i stopped and asked HIM how to get back to west hartford. i saw another officer and asked HIM too. i was deeper and deeper in the twilight zone (at least i had my tunes. at least the day was warm and it wasn't raining out). i finally saw a bunch of people standing outside a mini mart/gas station. i pulled in and walked up to the closest person. that person was some chullo gang member with full colors and tear drop tattoos under his eyes (we all know what that means). i was shaking but NOT because of him, because of the full out panic attack i was in the middle of. he couldn't help me BUT the dude on the bike (cool looking older man with long grey hair and a pony tail) did. he told me to follow the street (arch) across main street and soon i'll come upon stanley street. my heart perked up. I KNEW STANLEY STREET. i knew if i FOUND STANLEY STREET i'd be able to wend my way home. well i was driving and driving and i didn't see any stanley street. i called another friend (that used to work at the new britain museum so i was SURE he could help me) and low and behold HE ANSWERED THE PHONE! just as i was crying out 'dimitri, HELP ME I'M LOST IN NEW BRITAIN' i saw a sign that said STANLEY STREET. i was in the wrong lane to turn so i had to go straight and turn around and all sorts of ugly stuff BUT i did it. meanwhile, dimitri asked me just how drunk i was (i wasn't drunk AT ALL, quite SOBER as a matter of fact, but right about then i KNEW that was going to change as soon as i found my way home). dimitri calmed me down and i got on STANLEY STREET. ok ok ok. i don't know HOW this happened and it should NOT have happened, BUT i ended up on the highway again. this time i knew i was going in the RIGHT direction though. i saw a sign for the mall and i JUMPED off the highway. i quickly ran into target, got my gift certificate and CAME HOME. went to the pub, got drunk, end of story.
oh i was lost one hour and forty five minutes. NOW end of storydusk maxfield parrish
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13 comments:
while you may wish to work on the fear of the highway, nobody except me likes getting lost, but even i have a gps device which really will not allow me to get lost. i do not ever look at the darn thing until i actually do get lost, and then the map my device has that retraces steps is handy. less than a hundred bucks, get one.
Great gods, Rose, what a mess! Glad you made it home in one piece.
hey rose ... momma told me there'd be days like that ... I've had a few ... glad you made it back okay ... hope you don't mind roryz thank you post ... because rory got a big surprize package that brought all kindza smiles and tears to his frickin' visage today ... you rock
god I was with you the whole way. I loved it. What a "mr toad's wild ride adventure."
Thank you,
Bob
rose, I've seen you around on other blogs & hope you don't mind, I just happen to stop by ... and what do I read? Almost EXACTLY one of my worst nightmares. No kidding, I have recurring dreams just like your real-life experience where I miss offramps, cannot find my exit, end up in hwy hell forever, totally lost. Only bad dreams for me, don't know what they mean. So sorry you actually lived my recurring nightmare. I'm convinced there is an evil highway monster out there who carefully selects victims for what must be one of dante's circles of hell. Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky to have escaped (you by literally driving out, me only by waking up). D.K.
I was going to say there is a nightmare quality to all of this. When I was a kid I was terrified of being in a car on a highway. I panicked, and I think I still have this phobia deep down inside waiting to re-surface. Hopefully I'll be in the right lane. Maybe this experience was part of some cosmic plan to get you back in the fast lane.
rev- it's probably a good idea for me to get some type of gps. just so you know, IF i have to go somewhere i've not been before, i go online and print out EXPLICIT NON HIGHWAY directions. i don't MIND getting lost if i'm with someone else. i MIND if i'm alone.
jean-thanks! yeah, i'm glad i made it home too.
rory-i read your thank you post AND YOU'RE TOO MUCH AND TOO KIND AND on and on!
forrest-i HATED the whalers and i am glad they're gone. i used to go to a game now and again and root for the opposing team. the only thing i liked were the pee wee players that would come out between periods. the last game i saw, the 'hanson brothers' from slap shot came out. that's the day i also played pool with my friend deb against two members of los solidos (sans natto) and we STILL kicked their asses
d.k, - of course i don't mind. i appreciate your visit. and yes, i obviously understand about your nightmares
vanx, i'm not afraid if someone else is driving unless it is in fact my friend 's'. he drives like he is in some sort of italian road race in a ferrari. i'm a simple woman (that's a laugh ain't it?) the first time i went for a ride in 's's' new car we went to the airport so he could pick up some tickets or something or other. on the white knuckle drive over, i said, 's, i think i just pissed in your front seat'. he laughed and laughed and said, 'a rose is a rose, that's just the heated car seats'. see how SOPHISTICATED I IS?
sorry bobby, i didn't mean to forget you. thanks for your compassion. it WAS a wild ride
i happened to mention it to my dad yesterday. he started laughing. he and his friend (i am SO glad he and she hooked up. my popi was devestated after my mom died. they were married over 50 years. i thought he too was going to die, of grief.) had a very similar adventure. they were going to see a play and got lost in new britain. he told me he burned 1/4 tank of gas trying to wend his way home.
i think new britain is the new providence. used to be once you got INTO providence, THERE WAS NO WAY OUT
ciao Rose, thank you for your visit. we can exchange links if you want
i hate driving, not because i fear it, but because i have no sense of direction at all. It is embarassing. I have no clue where i am going and driving in a city with over 500,000 people is impossible for me
Cool picture. If that is California that house will be down the hill when the thaws and spring rains come. Almost like it were on a sled at the Olympics.
lol rich (well not really funny i guess because it would probably be true) BUT i do so love parrish
lond-DONE
graeme- man, the trick is to get someone ELSE to drive
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