Friday, November 09, 2007

No Freakin' Way!

If I hadn't seen it myself, I would have never believed this one.

I had ordered a cast iron stove, and it was being shipped to my door on a semi. No big deal, as I've had this done before when I bought my super-duper power massage table. I got a call from the trucker when he was about ten miles away, so I went out to the end of the driveway to make it easier for him to spot the address. Now for those of you who don't know where I live, there is no way a semi is going to pull into my driveway, and the road I live on is state highway 95 along the St Croix river. It handles a pretty heavy traffic load, consisting of a bad mix of speeding commuters and Sunday-driving gawkers. Luckily, it was about 2 in the afternoon when my stove pulled up. Traffic was probably less chaotic than normal, but I am still risking my life just going to check my mailbox. So I stood at the end of the driveway, expecting him to pull to the side of the road, but he signals to me that he wants to turn around before parking. I figure that's a good idea, as that will put him on my side of the road, and we won't have to cart the stove across the death trap. And then it happened. I'm telling you, watching this was better than any Halloween movie trailer. I fully expected him to go to the next side road and turn his full size semi around, but he did a u-turn! On hwy 95! Right before a blind curve! With my stove on board! I was so freaking surprised I almost dialed 911 just to get things rolling before the inevitable happened. I mean, people do 70+ mph on this road! (Just ask Dan Wold - good luck out west, btw.) Well, it was a true 'freeze, flight, or flight' experience for me. If I was as quick as Smithers or Donimator with the camera, I'd have a pic for you. But trust me, this semi was cross-ways in the road for a good 45 seconds to a minute or so, and it seemed liked days. I wanted to run and hide. No good could come from this. I thought about running up towards the blind curve to warn anyone about the knucklehead they were about to encounter, but I'd never make it there in time. I also figured I should stay a safe distance away from the wreckage, so I would be able to help instead of just becoming part of the victim pile-up. But this driver must be doing something right, because he made the turn without any one getting themselves stuck underneath his trailer. It was just as surprising as the fact that he attempted it in the first place! I helped him unload my stove as I thought about giving him an earful for performing that stunt, but what good would that do now? I was just happy I was carrying my stove instead of bodies from the wreckage.

So look out when you're on the road these days. The unexpected occurs far too often.