Truckers Angels Of The Highways
Dear Ann Landers: Truckers, I believe, are the Lord’s angels in disguise. Here’s my story:
Driving west recently, my young son pulled over on a highway when he saw smoke coming from his car. Before he was out of the automobile, two truckers came running toward him with their fire extinguishers.
It turned out that the car was on fire and my son was only a few seconds away from tragedy. The truckers saved the car and probably our son’s life as well. They were on their way again before our son could express his gratitude.
My husband and I shall always feel grateful to God and those truckers. I wish we could thank them personally and write to their employers. Please print this letter, Ann. I pray they will see it. - Appreciative in N.J.
Dear N.J.: Here it is - yet another accolade for those White Knights of the Road. If I hear from them, I’ll let you know.
Dear Ann Landers: I was trying to jump-start a battery at work. The battery was mismarked, and I accidentally connected the positive end of the battery cable to the negative battery post. The whole thing exploded in my face, and I suffered burns from the battery acid. I was lucky, though, because I was wearing safety glasses. Even though the force of the explosion blew the glasses off my face, they were on when the battery acid hit, and my eyes were protected.
My accident happened at an industrial site, but the same thing can happen when people jump-start their car batteries. These explosions can shoot acid and sharp pieces of the battery in all directions. Battery explosions cause as many as 6,000 eye injuries a year.
I’m now a member of a workplace safety group sponsored by Prevent Blindness America, the nation’s largest non-profit eye health and safety organization. According to PBA, nine out of 10 eye injuries are preventable.
If your readers would like more information on how to prevent blindness, or even how to safely jump-start a car battery, I recommend they call Prevent Blindness America’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-331-2020 or write to them at 500 E. Remington Rd., Schaumburg, Ill. 60173-5611. - Blake in Longview, Wash.
Dear Blake: You will never know how many people you educated today. I want to thank you on behalf of all of them.
Dear Ann Landers: Here’s another seat-mate letter for you. Sylvia and I sat together at NYU when we were both working on our master’s degrees, back in 1936. Class ended at 10 p.m., and we walked to the subway 3 miles away. I gallantly put in a nickel for Sylvia at the turnstile. She took the train north, and I went in the opposite direction.
After a week or two, we would spend an hour or more on a park bench before taking our subway rides home. When my civil service job finally gave me a pay raise to $70 a month, we were married. Sylvia and I enjoyed 34 wonderful years together and had twin boys, a doctor and a lawyer. She passed away several years ago, and I thought I could never love again. I was wrong about that.
I am now 81 and happily married for 20 years to a beautiful woman I have known since she was 5, when her aunt married my cousin. Now her aunt is my cousin, and my cousin is her uncle. It was meant to be. - Herman from Hallandale, Fla.
Dear Herman: You are a lucky man to have been twice blessed. Thank you for sharing your story.