Erin Springsteen

West Point, 2002

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Betty Springsteen on April 27, 2004:

Heads up! Kathryn K. & Sid B. talked to us about this website when they were here and for various reasons I didn't visit it until the night before last. In the quiet of the late night I started reading & once started had to copy each message to add to a notebook of "Erinisms" that we could read whenever we wanted (memory banks aren't what they used to be and when you write stories/thoughts of Erin down it keeps us from arguing about how the story really went). I had no idea how consoling it would be to read your thoughts, today I logged back in to read about Erin & the hitchiker, it reminded me of another Erin story... about a month or 2 ago she drove up to visit a friend, Joe Bellant who was stateside & near enough (~4hrs away) to hang out with for an afternoon. On the way there she had car trouble, ran out of gas, got pulled over by a cop and all in all -- ended up spending alot shorter time with Joe planned. They hung out for awhile & then she headed back. The car kept giving her trouble (stalling out) and finally quit at about 3:00 am somewhere in rural Macon County, GA. So she got out the cell phone to call for assistance & in the process the phone charge ran out. Next (I think) she walked back to where she had last seen a phone booth & the phone wasn't working. It was freezing out so she decided to walk back to the car & wait until somebody came by (trucker, etc.)and then she'd flag them down. Sure enough about 6:30 am. (yes, ~3 hrs.)a car came down the road & pulled over. Erin hopped out of the mustang & told the driver that her car had quit, she had jumper cables and could they use his car to get it started. He said he would, but he'd be late for work, and then he took off. Eventually a police vehicle (sheriff dept?)came along & the officer helped her get the car started & they both went on down the road. Fortunately the officer was alert & when she realized that Erin hadn't come over a hill behind her she went back to check. Sure enough, the mustang had quit again & they ended up getting it towed. The reason I'm telling you this story is that if you knew her at all you'll appreciate her telling it & her added comment: "The thing I don't get is why did the schmuck pull over just to tell me he was going to be late for work?"

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