Driving In The Dark

There was a high school teacher named Mr. Musgrove. He was one of the faculty advisors for the National Forensic League at our school. We would have to go to debate tournaments in Bluefield, WV. So, he would drive us through the mountains. If you were unlucky to be in his car at night, he would turn off his headlights to go on the winding roads. He claimed that he could see the road better without the lights. He had a lot of scared kids praying that they would not die that night. Mr. Musgrove was a little crazy. I often wondered if he was just doing it as a joke, or was he really serious. But, he never had a wreck. Years later, when I worked at White Oak, I had a co-worker named John Cathcart. He was still in high school, but he was a very good worker. John had a pickup truck. One night, he asked if some of us wanted to ride down Sherman's Road. Supposedly, it was a road that General Sherman took in his march through South Carolina, and it ran near the conference center. So, of course I said yes, as did two of the girls that worked with us. John, Angela, Suzanne and me were crammed into the front seat of the truck and off we went. The road turned out to be a dirt road with no lights. There were boards over ditches, that you had to line up your tires with the boards to cross the ditches. John turned off his lights, as he said he could see the trail better. I screamed like a girl, as did the two girls. Being against the door, if the truck fell off the board, I would get it first. John thought it was funny, until we begged him to turn around and go back. We found a house in the middle of the woods to turn around. When we did, a man came running out with a shotgun, as he thought we were tresspassing. At that point, we didn't care if the truck was lined up with the boards. The man fired a shot, but it didn't hit us. A few years later, I was driving a rental car in Charlotte at night. People coming the other way were flashing their lights at me. I thought a cop was around, so I would slow down. I realized, after going several blocks, that I didn't have my lights on. I thought they were, since the street lights were so bright. I don't suggest that you try and drive without lights at night. If you are being followed, it might be a good idea, but that's about it.