Comments on: More reading matter

by: David

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:57:41 +0000

Wow, Ludowici’s much deserved reputation reaches much farther than I realized. Forty years later, if I happen to take the back way to Asheville, which goes through Ludowici, I will still not stop for any reason or buy anything at any store. I just drive quietly through and motor on my way. That cop did everything he could think of to make me lose my temper, but I had already dealt with his type on more than one occasion, so he finally gave up and sent me on my way. There were two of us in the car, and both of us stayed quite calm and polite. Had I been alone, I suspect he would have been even more aggressive and determined to arrest me for something, anything, since it was 1968, and in his mind I was, well… I don’t even want to think what would have happened if one of my black classmates from The College of New Jersey had been with me, instead of a clearly Anglo classmate.

by: Zee Man

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:34:15 +0000

SWB,YOB 42, I work and live in the DC area and even I know to stay the hell out of Ludowici, Georgia - famous the world over as “The Devil’s own speed trap”. I’m glad you got away clean.

by: Jimmy, Yeah that Jimmy

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:19:48 +0000

Well the Trooper wasn’t as bad as I had feared. I thought I’d get out of my truck, walk over to his car and just take the game to him. (Deep breath!) “Howdy, suh. I wus hopin’ yall could die-rect me to-wahds Parris Island. Yes, suh. I’m thinkin’ ’bout joinin’ up thuh Marines” I think the “joinin’ up thuh Marines” part trumped the pathetic “limp wristed man asking for directions” indignity. My “accent” didn’t fool him either, but maybe I got points for trying.

He told me which roads to take and since the first turn was “pert nigh tricky”, he said he follow behind me and make sure I found it.

Okay. That was the longest three miles of my life. Nothing like having a rear view mirror full of black and white. He beeped the horn when I got to the turn-off (I almost had a stroke) then went on his way. I think he admired my truck’s metallic red paint job and low rider suspension and figured maybe I wasn’t such a Yankee wuss after all.

by: Sharon Hussein

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:44:55 +0000

Being a graduate student (only 2 more classes!) and a part-timer in a library (two libraries, now), I have been watching every penny and tracking my mileage as I experiment with taking parts off the roof rack, emptying out the back seat and the cargo area, and slowing down. My Subaru does get slightly better mileage at lower speeds, but the real reason I stay under the speed limit is that it makes a miserable commute slightly more tolerable. I get in the right lane, set the cruise control, and relax (relatively speaking) while everyone passes me and waves. At least, I think that’s what they’re doing.

by: SWB, YOB 42

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:41:51 +0000

Speaking of Southern White Boys, Toby Keith is both reminding people he is a Democrat and is speaking positively about Barack Obama. This matters. I still do not like his stunt against Natalie Mains, but we do not have time for grudges, and I have to suspect there is some Johnny Cash in Toby Keith’s psyche, not to mention the fact that he is close friends with Willie Nelson. Think NC and VA in the Democratic column, people.

by: SWB, YOB 42

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:38:34 +0000

I’m assuming you’re white, Jimmy, so the only other things that matter are the plates on your car and whether the patrolman is one of the many levelheaded professionals or one of the old schoolers. Does he just want to uphold civil order, or is he on a mission to “protect the South”?

I am a Southern White Boy, complete with various identifiers, but I drove through Ludowici, Georgia on a Sunday morning at the height of the Civil Rights Movement with New Jersey plates on my car. Pulled over, hassled, you name it, but he was a local cop who couldn’t rattle me, so he sent me on my way after he decided I wasn’t there to “stir up trouble.”

My only experience with a South Carolina state trooper occurred when my ‘68 VW dropped the #3 exhaust valve. He was courteous and helpful, although he did try to “take the VW with the dead engine off my hands for the right price.” But no problems from him. Hope you fared as well. They generally aren’t as bad as those big city cops who have attitudes, at least not in recent decades. Just don’t be a peacenik, at least not visibly so, and do not even hint at your real reason for being there. It’s about family, and you want to reconnect.

by: Jimmy, Yeah that Jimmy

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:16:50 +0000

Okay, I’m lost.

Talk about podunk - where are the road signs in this Godforsaken wilderness anyways? Uh-oh! A South Carolina State Patrolman just rolled into the parking lot here and he’s slowly coming towards me now. He’s probably calling in back up. If you don’t hear from me within the next 24 hours, call my lawyer. (Okay, Jimmy, remember what Molly told you - you don’t pronounce your “r’s” and “g’s” down here.)

Help me, Jesus!

by: gregory

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:44:07 +0000

…”I think it’s slowed down some.” Maybe that’s it, hedera. The average American has slowed down from 95 to 80 mph and I’ve been too insensitive to notice the difference. I still wonder if there’s any hope for humans in the long run.

by: hedera

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:22:54 +0000

Actually, gregory, about 2 years ago (while I was still working) I started doing the same thing, not so much because of climate change as because I found by experiment that I got better gas mileage that way. (Let’s hear it for parsimony.) Commuting to and from work, I set my cruise control to 60 (not even 65) and settled myself in the number 2 lane; I used the number 4 lane going home because I never had to change lanes. Since I had a reverse commute, there was always room for people to pass me; and oh, my, did they pass me. It was like sitting on a rock in the river, watching the water go by.

I still drive with cruise control on, at 60 MPH; and it’s funny, I don’t get passed as often as I once did. I don’t know about the inter-city stretches of highway, but on the arterial freeways within the S.F. Bay Area, I think it’s slowed down some.

by: G. Marx

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:21:09 +0000

Congratulations to Emily for having her first book published. Like I always say, outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read. (Rimshot!!) Huh? Huh?

What? You’ve heard that one already? Oy! I shoulda listened to Harpo’s honks. He always said I should copywrite those jokes. At least I think that’s what he was saying.