Did rotten luck or incompetence scuttle the start of the holidays in my first year of teaching?
The 3:40 bell announced the finish of lessons and the start of the Easter break. Michael, in his Volkswagen, slipped down the highway like snow peas from a Teflon pan. The drive to Sydney had begun, but problems loomed for Herbie.
At my first posting, I arrived by train as did most teachers. Few first-year appointees had saved the cash to own wheels. Hence, at terms end, it became imperative to catch a lift with someone who owned a car. In doing so, one avoided the onerous rail trip to the coast.
Now it came to pass, not far into his journey, Mike had a blow-out—it happens. Not unexpected really because, in the sixties, the first one-hundred miles of road out of Hay was unsealed. A group of teachers, in the following car, arrived to help change the tyre. No problems or ‘pas de problémes’ as my French-teacher brother would say who also started his career out west
An hour further on, the car swerved as a second tyre disintegrated. Could Mike’s luck have gone Hay-wire? From a mathematical perspective, the probability of two flat tyres in an hour seemed unlikely.
Without a spare, he had to wait. Sunset, however, heralded the next carload of colleagues. Whilst some waited with the beetle, others relayed Mike to the closest town, fifty miles distant, to replace the tyres. This interruption added hours to the eastern migration for all concerned.
Akin to a Ripley’s moment, yet another tyre failed and delayed more chalkies in their travels. Twenty-five years later, Phil from Ground Hog Day, would echo Mike’s thoughts; “I’m reliving the same event over and over again.”
The problem? Well, back in ye olden days, tyres were not tubeless. Only then did the garage attendant, on hearing Mike’s yarn, discover that all inner tubes fitted were the wrong size. Bad luck? No-siree-bob―incompetence.
The moral: Check new tyres and, for future holidays, leave town before Mike.
“Repetition is the reality and the seriousness of life.” Soren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish Philosopher, Theologian, and Psychologist.
NOTE: In July 1974, Australia changed all its units of measurement to the metric system. Because of this, all the road signs had to be changed.