Driving Stories

Driving Stories

My first experience was driving a jitney while working at the New England Cannery in Ketchikan, Alaska. The jitney was mounted on a 1919 Ford truck. The gears were controlled by using three pedals on the floor, one pedal for changing gears, one pedal for low at one level, another level for medium pull, another for high. The third pedal was the brake. I’ve forgotten exactly how the reverse gear was engaged, but somehow you could. Probably some level on one of the pedals. It was quite an easy car to drive, and I learned within a few minutes.

Later in the 1920s, Ford developed the stick shift. That same year, I began working at Harry Race Drug Store and drove a stick shift on the floor. I mostly drove Harry around when he had had too much to drink. There again, I learned easily. (How to drive, not how to drink!)

My brother and I bought a 1930 Plymouth and immediately replaced the rear tires with over-sized ones. We tooled around town with the back end higher than the front. We both thought that was neat. The car had a rumble seat in the back, and we were thrilled.

Then, we bought a 1937 Plymouth coupe which I wrecked the day before I was called up to go to war. I skidded into the local bus, causing $800 damage. That was on a Sunday so I had to call the bank president to come down to the bank so I could withdraw cash to give to the bus driver, Kenny Eckner. I drained my savings of the 800 for Kenny, which left $400 in the bank, so I’d have that if I came back from the war.

After I got out, I began fishing right away and forgot about the $400 in the bank. When I tried to get it back, the bank president said, “No dice.” That was because five years had passed without any activity. The state had taken the money. I tried to locate it, but soon gave up and ended up losing my savings. I’ve never forgotten the loss of that money though I try not to dwell on the incident, but it haunts me—even to this day.

(Just a footnote to that—the bank president, Mr. Frank Murokowski, moved to Anchorage when Alaska became a state with his son Frank Junior who later became a senator and had a daughter named Lisa…who is now one of the two senators from Alaska!)

I have no problem driving today. I’ll be 90 soon and, Lord willing, driving till the day I die.

Leif Gregerson is a retired oral surgeon who lives in Seattle where he attends Write about Your Life classes at the Greenwood Senior Center.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

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