Come On And Take A Free Ride.

You may recall Tom Barnard from one of my earlier blogs.  I worked with Tom in Chattanooga for many years.  Tom was a confirmed bachelor and one of the best people you could know.  He would do anything within his power for you. Tom was not a handy man kind of guy.  He once called the power company when his bathroom light went out and it was only a tripped breaker.

Tom would buy a new vehicle every year or so and would sell the one he had.  In addition, he would move from apartment to apartment periodically for some reason I still don't understand.  When he changed abodes, he usually bought new furniture and would either sell his old stuff  cheaply or even give it away.  Since most of us co-workers were poor, young couples, we pretty much stood in line for Tom's next move. It was after one of these re-locations the following occurred.

My wife and I had gone to a local convenience store one evening for something.  While I was inside paying for the goods, Linda hollered for me to come outside saying, "You've got to see this".  Well, Tom had moved again and the "vultures" had moved in on his furniture.  He had given his old couch to Gene Satterwaite.  Gene had enlisted the help of Stan Fugate, who had a pickup, and, along with Tom's help, were moving it to his own place.  Stan and Tom were riding in the cab of the truck and Gene was laying on the couch in the back of the truck drinking a beer.  After leaving the four-way stop at the intersection of Ely Rd and Delashmitt, Stan accelerated enough to cause the couch to come out of the back of the truck bed with Gene riding it like a bucking bronc.  By the time I got outside they were carrying it across the street to reload in the truck. They never saw us.

Gene never dropped his beer.  When they returned to work the next morning, the plant cartoonist already had a sketch on the bulletin board.

Tom and Gene would later make the plant cartoons when they unloaded their boat on the side of the road when the tie-down strap broke as they rounded a curve.  I think alcohol might have been involved in this incident as well, but I can't say for sure.