HOME            SEARCH


A Trip To The Bank

My uncle 1931 Wilford Sherman told me this story a few years ago at the annual reunion at Bob and Nancy Burrows house in Ouaquaga. Seems that my other uncle 1931 Paul Sherman and Wilford were once working together; I think it was in construction. One Friday they got their paychecks a bit late in the day and Paul was worried that he would not make it to the bank before closing time to cash his check. So of course, he took off like greased lightning, headed for the bank. On the way was one lonely stop light, which of course turned red just as he got there. He did not wait very long before deciding to "run it" - so he drove up onto the sidewalk to get around the car in front of him, drove through the red light, and continued "at a high rate of speed" to the bank. This maneuver attracted the attention of the local policeman, who took off after Paul, red light flashing (yes, they only used one lonely red light on top of the squad car back then). Paul, however, was not going to be deterred, so he just kept driving, and drove right up to the bank, where he jumped out of his car just as the cop pulled up. What happened next was Classic Paul: the cop says to him in a kind of off-hand way, "that's a pretty fast car you've got there" - whereupon Paul proceeded to wax loquacious about the merits of his car, of which he was mighty proud. After a few minutes, the cop slapped him on the shoulder and told him to "maybe take it a little easier from now on", and stay off the sidewalks - and went on his way, without ever giving him a ticket. Nobody who ever knew Paul would be surprised at that! I don't recall now whether he ever got that check cashed, and sadly, neither Paul nor Wilford are still with us to answer the question. JAS, May 2021