Murphy's World

Chacha does the cha-cha-cha

I had just loaded out in Paw Paw, MI and was headed back to I-94 westbound. It was late
and pouring rain, and I was tired. I made my right turn, thinking I was turning onto the interstate ramp, but it was actually a service road. Bummer.
     I knew right away I’d done wrong, but backing out wasn’t going to happen in the dark and rain. Instead, I pulled ahead to a building, hoping I could do a three-point (to the third power) turnaround in the driveway. As I drew nearer, however, I saw it was the highway patrol office. No thanks.
     I just sat there, hoping a cop would come by and offer to help me back out on the road. A cop came by, all right, and suggested that I follow him forward. OK, I thought, he knows this territory; maybe there’s a place to turn around I can’t see.
     I follow him a few blocks and he turns right…onto a gravel cow path. He made his turn and stopped. I stopped. So what did he want me to do? I got out of the truck and asked him. He thought I could back around the corner. Ummm…no, I said, not from a tiny, skinny road to another tiny, skinny road in the rain and dark, with deep ditches on either side.
     He said OK and we continued down the cow path. Where the heck are we going, I wondered. We ended up in some farmer’s driveway. I had to make a very sharp right, pull up, back up, pull up, etc., over and over again. The cop had to get out in the pouring rain and help because it was so tight and so dark. Amazingly enough, the farmer never came out of the house.
     Finally, I was turned around and headed outta there. I was soaked to the skin and quite ticked off, but rolling.
     “Chacha”
     Des Moines, IA

Dear Chacha,
Sounds like you and your truck had to perform a little impromptu cha-cha-cha dance together to get out of that rabbit hole. You know, two little steps forward, a little step back, a step to the right. Then it was time for the Hokey-Pokey. “You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out; you do the Hokey-Pokey, and you turn yourself around.”
     When you’re driving a big rig and you get stuck in Paw Paw, MI and you ask a cop to help you turn yourself around, I guess that’s really what it's all about.
     Let’s not be too hard on the constable, though. It’s pretty obvious he didn’t know his way around Paw Paw, much less a big rig. Sure, he got you into a mess, but he stood around in the pouring rain to help you get out of it. That’s more than I can say for some people.

Regards,

Murphy and Lucky Dog