transport

I used to believe…

My father is a terrible practical joker. He inflicted his sense of humour on all 4 of his children, and, unfortunately, now on my nieces and nephews too. Amongst the things that I believed were:
That dad was a god, with magic powers. He could change traffic lights from red to green, by commanding "lights please change". Miraculously, the lights would change colour - it wasn't until i was about nine that i realised that dad was watching for the lights in the other direction to turn before his command!
He also told me that the giant bales of hay in farmers paddocks were in fact 'wild hay', a type of very shy animal that would move only when no-one was looking at it. Occasionally they were covered in a tarpolen, because they were prone to catch colds, and the farmers were worried about them. I suppose its not that unusual for a city kid like myself to believe this, but unfortunately my older sisters kids - born and bred in the country - believe this as well!
Unfortunately, my father's jokes appear to be genetic - last week i convinced my three year old niece that bread grows on trees. We spent nearly an hour hunting around the backyard for bread to have with dinner. Amazingly, we found a french stick and two rolls - that i had hidden earlier.

I used believe that if a person pressed the button at a cross walk, a bus would come along.

I usw=ed to (still do!) believe that you should take your coat off when getting into a car on a cold day, so that you can feel the benefit of it when you get out. The same goes for entering houses or shops.

I used to believe…

When my son was 3, we would travel back and forth from Oklahoma to relatives in Arkansas in the U.S. We'd use a toll road along the way. Every time we'd approach the toll booth, my son would hold up his feet so he could "Pay a toe." We'd humor him of course by pretending to grab one of his toes. He's nine now, and we're not traveling that toll road anymore. He might just be writing his own "I used to believe" in a few years! I don't think we've ever actually corrected him on this.

I used to believe…

The day the training wheels fell off my bicycle I realized that I could keep on going without them. I continued down my street for several blocks and wound around the neighborhood until I came to a street called "Persimmon Tree Lane." I thought it said "Permission" and that I was not allowed so I turned around and went back home.

I always thought that the SOS signs and telephones at the side of the road meant 'Someone's Stuck'! I think it makes a lot more sense than 'Save Our Souls'!

I used to believe that the sign "To let" was to tell us there was a toilet there, but many had forgotten to put the "i" in the word.

Also, teh sign "police slow down" was actually meant "please slow down"

I used to believe…

When I was 5,I used to believe that hitch-hikers were actually directing traffic, helping drivers by showing them the way to go. One morning on my way to school I decided to stick my thumb out to "help". I couldn't understand why all these cars kept pulling over - and why the drivers were getting annoyed when I walked away!

I used to believe…

When I was a kid, we often used to see wagon chassis, with no body shell. i assume that they were being driven from manufacturer to coach builder. The driver used to sit, exposed to the elements, wrapped up tight in thick, all over clothes, with his eyes protected by goggles. I blame my mother for my belief that these were highly dangerous diseased people and that any contact would be lethal. So they had to move around fully covered, to prevent spread of the disease, but highly visible so that others could avoid them. I think the fresh air might also have been good for them.

I used to belive that the GB plates on the back of Britsh Coaches mean't the driver was Getting Better, not its proper meaning of Great Britain. I saw it on the back of an old white van years later and told my dad, who then told the van driver. Needless to say, the driver of the white van didn't take too kindly to this comment.

I really thought that when an aeroplane took off it landed on the clouds. Why? Because thats where other countries were, of course.

I used to believe…

When I was younger I used to believe that the small sand bags workmen put onto mobile roadworks signs to stop them blowing over were dead baby pigs!

After all they are a similar colour.

In the back of my dad's car one day I saw lots of them laid out on the side of the road, I screamed out - "mum, dad, there's been a massive accident, look at all the dead pigs" !!!

I have a friend, John, who was driving with his mother the other day. All of a sudden she pulled over and started drinking her bottle of Coke she purchased earlier. When he enquired as to what she was doing she said, "don't you know, it's illegal to drink and drive". (keep in mind she was serious) Needless to say, John is still laughing about this!!!

I used to think blind people could drive cars, that there was some sort of adaptive device they used. I don't know why I thought this, I guess since they could walk around with canes or dogs that there must be something similar that let them drive cars!

I used to believe…

When I was 4 years old I asked my Daddy once, why, when he drove the car he would turn the wheel a little to the right and then a little to the left instead of steering straight ahead. He said the right half of the car wants to go right and the left half wants to go left, if I don't let each half have their turn the car will split in half. I watched my Dad like a hawk to make sure he was giving each side its turn cos I was scared the car would break apart.

I used to believe…

When I was little, I lived in California where U-Turns where the norm. (For those that don't know, a U-turn is where you make a sharp left turn at an intersection to go back the way you came.) For some reason, I thought a U-turn was an intersection where the drivers argued about who was going to turn... "You turn."... "No, YOU turn!"... "No, no, really, YOU turn!!"... Ah, well... I never did see anyone arguing about who was going to turn so I couldn't figure out the purpose of the signs which authorized this activity!