Standing Before the Judge

Here I am, sitting proudly in my 1963 MGB roadster with friend Norm in the passenger seat. It had knock off wire wheels, a racing stripe, a customized rolled and pleated leather interior and a leather wrapped roll bar. And, of course, the latest rage back then, an 8 track tape player with four speakers. (Simon and Garfunkle, The Mamas and the Papas, The Association.... Oh yeah!)

I do not recall too much about that Christmas other than the fact that I was not at my parent's too much for those few days I was back. I had a lot of catching up to do with friends, and of course with she whom I greatly missed. But she was back home with her parents for the Christmas break from school, so, again, we were in different cities. We were not getting to see too much of each other, but all the letter writing had indeed drawn us closer. There was one important issue that had to be taken care of and that was what had eventually swayed my boss to let me go home for a few days. I had an appointment with the Judge.
In August, just before I got the call to go to Ocean Falls, I and my friend (not the one in the above photo) were driving in downtown Vancouver one sunny afternoon when the bus beside me in the curb lane suddenly slowed. Being very low to the road and thinking the bus was slowing down to take on a passenger, I kept on going. An elderly man was driving off a stop sign into a busy thoroughfare with not a care. I slammed into him in his left front quarter panel. His was a 'big iron' Oldsmobile Detroit boat so he only had a scuff on his front fender. The entire front end of my little MGB folded like an accordion and I had to stand upright in it to see over the fold in the hood. Needless to say it was not drivable. There was a policeman right there who had witnessed the whole thing and he suggested I push my car onto the side street which was on a slight downhill and park there while we did the paperwork. My friend had a bummed out knee from the crash but we managed to get the car parked against the curb and were standing beside it when the Oldsmobile came crashing into the back of my MGB. The back end was now folded like the front. His car had stalled and so when he and the cop pushed his car onto the side road, he could not apply the brakes because they were power brakes and his engine was not running.
To make a long story short, I was charged with two accidents! To add insult to injury, I was charged with the very serious offence of driving without due care and attention. I paid two deductibles on the two accidents, had the car repaired and then went to Ocean Falls with instructions to my friend to sell the car. I had also, just previous to that, had a speeding ticket so I had enough points on my license to have to go see a judge. If he 'signed' my license, I would be suspended and have to take a 'safe driving course', complete with films of mangled bodies at scenes of accidents. ( I later took the test in Ocean Falls and passed with the highest score possible) As I stood before the judge, I thought of the injustice of it all and was preparing my arguments. At the last minute, I made a decision that I would stay in Ocean Falls for at least another year and it really did not matter what happened because I would not be driving there regardless. I suddenly had real peace about the whole incident and gave the judge a big smile as I handed him my license. Indeed, I did not require it for the next 2 1/2 years.