Stuck

This has been the first winter that I’ve been a driver, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It’s definitely turned out to be way worse than I expected. Living in an area where back roads are basically the main roads has made it even more difficult because they’re even less clear than the actual main roads (and they usually stay that way). Eventually I decided to just stop driving altogether if there was snow. However, on occasion, there have been times that I wasn’t expecting the snow and had to deal with it anyway. My car doesn’t have snow tires either, only adding to the problem.

One day, the most unfortunate scenario played out. I drove to school on a clear morning as usual. I wasn’t aware that it was supposed to start snowing during the school day, so it came as a surprise to me. It wasn’t snowing too heavily and driving was okay for the most part. It was only when I got to driving on back roads that it became too difficult. The road I live on is basically one giant hill, and when it’s snowing and slippery it can be almost impossible to drive on. There’s one part in particular that makes it so bad; there’s a very steep hill, then a short even section, and then another hill. I was able to make it up the steep hill, but by the time I got to the top of it I had lost all momentum. So when I got to the smaller hill right after it, I couldn’t make it up. There was almost no traction on the road since it hadn’t been plowed yet.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that I wasn’t going to be able to keep going, and I was in a pretty unfortunate position. My biggest concern was that someone would end up coming over the hill and not see my car there, and I would get hit. Thankfully that didn’t happen. I was very fortunate, because only a couple of minutes later a friend pulled up behind me and was ready to help. It’s times like that where I feel lucky to have such good friends. He was able to go get some sand to put down in front of me for traction. That, combined with some pushing and some courage, was enough to get me going again and I was able to make it home.

I take scenarios such as this as a lesson to try and do the same thing for other people. While I haven’t run into the same scenario, there have been times that I have been in situations where I could’ve helped and didn’t. Looking back on it now, I wish I had done more to help.

Overall, this was a good learning experience. Because of this, I want to be more willing to help others in need because I know that I have people to help me too.

Photo by GdeB fotografeert on Foter.com / CC BY-NC