Car Issues as a Young Child


Here are a couple stories as a child that involve some car issues. As I have stated before, I was a pretty odd (maybe more normal than I realize) child.  All I know is that I gave my parents a lot of grey hairs. No wonder Mom did the 80's frosting kit every other week. 

Anecdote #1

I don't know why I wanted to do it but I did. I remember when I was about 5 years old,  my family was driving back from my grandparents' house in Willingboro, NJ on Rt 295 in South Jersey on afternoon. Car seats, what were they? We were all over the back seat. I don't know what possessed me to do it, perhaps too much sesame candy at my Nana's, but I rolled down the back seat window of our blue rambler station wagon while Dad barreled down the highway at 50 MPH. For some reason, I wanted to see the tire spinning so I started to climb out the back seat. My sister was preoccupied joking around with my brother and wasn't paying attention to me. My Mom saw me attempt to climb out and screamed, "MARC'S CLIMBING OUT THE CAR!" My sister grabbed my pants and yanked me back in. Mom turned around and screamed "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!" "I don't know!" I cried. "I just wanted to see the tire spinning!"


Anecdote #2

The next time, we were coming home from an afternoon visit up to the New Jersey State Museum. It was the five of us again: Dad, Mom, Sheryl, Adam and I. I was about the same age. We spent the day going through the history and natural exhibits. Mom and Dad let us each buy an over sized postcard in the gift shop. I got an Eastern Timber Rattlesnake postcard. Sheryl got one with a baby deer, and Adam got a scorpion. We were traveling home, again on Rt 295. I was sitting behind Mom and decided to scare her with the rattlesnake postcard. I started moving the postcard by the side of her head just like a snake creeping up to her. Unfortunately, her window was down and the postcard went zipping out the window into the highway below. "MY POSTCARD! NO!!!!" I turned around quickly enough to see it zip under speeding cars and into the bushes, fading into the distance. It would be impossible to find and my parents c would not stop the car on the busy highway. I was an inconsolable mess! Sheryl felt so bad that she immediately gave me her postcard. I was so grateful. I still have it to this day.


Anecdote #3

My godparents, Ann and Rich Gardler, owned a farm down in Swedesboro, NJ. We would often visit the farm and spend the day with them. One afternoon about a year later, we had just pulled away from the farm in our green ugly Ford. I couldn't even tell you the make, I know I just hated that car. My brother was on one side in the back seat, I was in the middle, Sheryl was on the other side. None of us were wearing our seat belts. It just wasn't done back then! Suddenly, Adam's door swung open, I looked left, and I vividly remember I could see the field quickly passing the car. Adam started screaming, I was frozen in fear. Sheryl, the every level headed big sister, grabbed Adam across me and held him in tight. Dad pulled the car over and Adam cried in fear. He jumped over the the seat into Mom's arms where she comforted him. Dad hugged Adam as did Mom. Sheryl rubbed Adam's back. And there was me, still sitting there. Um what about me??? I started crying LOUDLY because no one was paying attention to ME!!! Sound familiar? Somethings never change. :)  

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2015 at 10:19 AM

    Marc, That had me laughing so hard I cried. I can picture these incidents as if I was there! A truer statement has not been said...Some things NEVER change.Take it from someone who knows!
    Love cuz Anne

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2015 at 11:12 AM

    No surprises here.... you don't seem to have changed much since your childhood. But you did bring back memories of my childhood, when Mom and Dad would take us out of the hot city into the country, to this Park in Bucks County.... where it only cost $1 a carload.... and we always had a carful.... ultimately there were 9 of us plus Mom and Dad. My sister Denise was prone to car sickness and would toss her cookies without warning... usually down the back of my father's head. So as the oldest, I had to keep my eye on her and if she started showing any signs of hurling... it was my job to warn Dad so he could pull the car over, so Denise could do her thing.
    Many more stories of those car rides to Shady Rest Park. JR

    ReplyDelete
  3. Muriel KirkpatrickJanuary 31, 2015 at 1:19 PM

    Fun to recall my auto experiences. My father sold used cars so the one we drove in was always different. Going for a drive and taking the dog with us was a regular weekend activity, a chance to get out in the world. I have pestered my cousins who still live in Wall township to drive me out and find these places when I visit home. Even after 50 years it is still home and brings warm memories. Thanks for the opportunity.
    And you are such a great writer your stories are very vivid. And they are not "writerly," it's just like hearing you tell them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marc Haynes is Focused at Fifty! February 4, 2015 at 10:54 AM

    Thanks friends and family, I really enjoyed reading these comments. Muriel, thank you so much for the compliment on my writing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFebruary 5, 2015 at 9:02 PM

    OMGosh........thank goodness for YOUR memeory Little Brother. I could stop laughing at the buildup to the moments. I had forgetten these moments and thank goodness they ALL had happy endings!! You are forever our family historian Marc.......keep up the EXCELLENT work!! Hugs.......Big Sis.

    ReplyDelete

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