Misinterpretation

You know when you're little sometimes things don't always mean what you think they do?

Let me share a story with you.

When I was a kid, I loved riding in the back of the car.  Didn't really matter which one...we had the Monza when I was really little.

Then, when I was a little older, we had the Celebrity Wagon...

And right around that time, too, we also inherited my grandpa's old van...

(Check out that sweet, sweet ride...and my mom's awesomely 80's perm...)






 But, no matter which vehicle we were in, I always looked forward to a trip into Greenville.

Because, you see, even though the destination and the act of leaving the house in itself was a treat...I was looking forward to something else.  Something, I hoped, time and again, that we might see for ourselves.

Like a train passing in the night, I had no idea when this mystical site would meet my eyes, but I knew, I *knew* if I had enough patience, then one day...one day I would see the cable cars.

I knew they were there.  There were warning signs on 18, letting me know that there was the chance they'd snap off the line and come crashing down onto the pavement.

Look out below, little cars!  Falling cable car hazard!

I wondered where people boarded- I wondered where the cable cars took them.  I figured it was into town- where else would one want to go, after all!

Secretly, a little part of me wanted to ride in them- I knew we lived in a rural area.  I figured the cable cars going to Greenville couldn't hold more than ten.  Certainly nothing like the majestic things I'd glimpsed at briefly on TV.

This would be no tourist-trap! Oh no. This was a practical, reliable (if somewhat mysterious) way to get about in Pennsylvania.  No mountain peaks for us to view, thankyouverymuch!  It was business as usual- just picking up typical sundries; eggs, milk, and the like.




And so, I waited.  I waited and I watched.  I watched for years, never seeing, never really comprehending.  When I was about 8, I started wondering if the falling cable car signs were disastrously out of date and I'd missed the whole thing by only a few years.

Disappointment met my eyes each and every time I'd see that sign on the curve of PA 18.

I wondered how many souls had been lost in the cable car accidents...I wondered if had been reported on the news.  After all, there's no need to place a sign unless a tragedy had occurred before, right?  It all made sense in my mind...

So now, dear reader, I leave you with the sign.  I expect you've seen one a time or two in your life, as well.  Now you can see it through my eyes- as a curious child, peering out at the world around her from the back seat of a familiar vehicle.

Note the lone rider, calmly waiting his demise, cable car wires snapped and flapping in the breeze as he plummets to his untimely death.  He seems calm.  I hope the end wasn't unnecessarily painful or gory. 

So, the next time you're out driving, and you see this sign, slow down, take a deep breath, and say a prayer for the victims of the cable car tragedy.

And who knows?  One day, you may look up, and find yourself watching a sturdy group of hearty Americans on their way into town via one of the coolest ways to get to the store- via cable car. 

Till next time,

Mandy