I recall....
My wife and I in my 84 chevy 4x4 short bed. One of the nicest trucks I ever owned.. 383 in it, back when you had to BUILD a 383 because there was no such thing to order.. and my WIFE was driving, it was a standard trans.. we were only going about 40, because there were a few icy patches here and there.. came up over a hill, and there were cars EVERYWHERE.. Of course, the first thing she did was slam on the brakes, and of course, that killed the engine, and the truck started sliding.... She started screaming, were gonna crash!! and repeated it over and over... while I yelled to push in the clutch... she did, the truck straightened out.. no power steering only adrenalin powered steering, so she wasnt going to oversteer.. I yelled over her yelling to hit the brakes, she did, truck started sliding.. i yelled let off the brakes! truck straightened out, i yelled HIT THE BRAKES, she did, and the truck started sliding. I yelled let off the brakes, and it straightened out... She managed to miss the first car, and then went between two cars, still screaming, and I am still telling her to hit the brakes and let off, repeatedly, time after time until we were going slow enough she could maneuver without sliding.. but the road was completely blocked, so i pointed at the ditch. it was about 10 feet deep, but not real steep...
Turn, and go straight down, DO NOT TURN! STRAIGHT!!!
She did it, we went in, came to a stop in the snow...
The first, and LAST time she has EVER listened and done EXACTLY as she was told...
A police officer coming from the other end of the wreck on foot ran up to the window, knee deep in snow, reaches in the now opening door and grabs my wife and hugs her... seriously... tells her that was the BEST piece of driving he has EVER seen!!
From that moment forward, she has told the story as if she was a cool as a frozen cucumber and I was the one screaming..
Well, i was, but was telling her what to do trying to save my truck!!!
THREE days later, in the same truck. coming down the long curved on ramp to the interstate, out of Somersworth NH.. i saw brake lights go on ahead of me, and hit the brakes.. you guessed it, the truck started to slide.. we, as in the three cars in front of me, and a dozen behind me are already running about 45 mph to get on the interstate.. My wife screams.. again... were going to crash!
I pumped the brake, and did everything I could possibly do to slow that truck down.. the cars in front of me slammed into the pile up pretty hard... I turned the wheel, we were already in 4 wheel drive, and mashed the gas.. my wife screamed again as we went over the small concrete barricade. it tore the exhaust off the truck as we hit the snow bank, and we went UP into the air in an explosion of snow, and landed on top of the burm of snow pushed up between ramp and interstate. And thats where we sat as the cars behind me all slid past and slammed into the mess.. Yep, the police officer that was just pulling up jumped out of his car and climbed up to the truck..
"Brother, are you OK?"
"Yes Sir, i think were better than them other folks."
"That was a hades of a piece of driving boy!"
Of COURSE it was! AND, it had nothing to do with skill, in either situation, with the wife, it was my tone of voice, hovering on the edge of sanity and desperation.. The on ramp, was purely adrenalin and desperation.. A man will do whatever, a man has to do, TO SAVE HIS TRUCK!
