Telling on Myself

I believe that every driver should know how to drive a straight shift car and so did my daddy. He had a blue step-side Chevy pickup while I was a teenager and I was permitted to drive it to school some days. But this is not the vehicle on which I learned to shift gears. That would have been my sister’s early 60s Metropolitan, 3 on the column. Before I tell on myself I have to provide some background.

My best friend since kindergarten was and is Cathy Cheatham Tucker.  She and I have had many, many adventures together – some good and some bad!  She lived on the block behind my house and on the way to the elementary school which we could to which we could walk.  Looking for one of us and you would almost always find the other, especially when we were in elementary school. But this tell takes place in the driveway of my home in Smyrna.

My sister, Donna, is exactly 8 years older than I am; I was her birthday present when she was 8, so it stands to reason that she was already driving when I a mischievous kid.  Mother and Daddy had purchased Donna a used car so that she could travel to school, her part-time job, and eventually to college.  During the 60s people did not have to lock the doors of their cars and she left her car unlocked in the driveway.

Cathy and I searched for something to do in our time together.  So we went on many imaginary road trips to Florida.  We traveled there in Donna’s car.  It was available and fun to play driving to anywhere, but Florida was always our first choice in destinations.  The Metropolitan was a straight shift – 3 on the column – and the thrill of driving to Florida was exciting to us.  So, we would pile in the car and “drive”. We would take turns driving for several hours, or until we got the gears hung in two gears.  The fun was over; off we went to find more games and fun.

Now, picture this scene.  It is early on Saturday morning. Donna would come put the back door and get in her car, dressed for her job at

Kinney’s Shoes at Belmont Hills Shopping Center.  She might be on time or more likely, running late.  Into the car she would hop, insert the key, and crank it.  Then she would shift into reverse.  But not so fast, Cathy and I had been to Florida the night before!  She was so angry.  She had to get out of the car, open the hood, jiggle the gear assembly, getting greasy in the process, then drive to work.  I can still here her hollering at one of the parents that Beth and Cathy hung up the gears again!  And boy could she yell!

Of course we were scolded and warned not to play in the car, but it was just too tempting.  We never told that we had hung up the gears because we were not supposed to be playing in the car.  That would have saved Donna.  But we were kids having fun!  She still loves anyway.  It was fun being her baby sister!

Fun in the family, kids being kids, – a daily part of country living.

Guest Writen: Beth Crumly Littlejohn