McHENRY, IL - Today
I was assaulted. Just 3 months short of turning thirty I was struck
and killed. Attacked by what I have faced many times before, a snow
plow. So on December
29, 2018 at 17:23:51 following the warning of flashing yellow lights
and what sounded like a freight train traveling rapidly down the
street.
I was
struck! Not by
the plow itself, but by the side of the dump bed that holds the salt.
You see, the driver was “curbing” the snow and had his tires up
against the curb not taking into account that the dump bed extends at
least six inches over the tires. When that plow blade passed me I took a deep breath, as I
thought I had survived this pass only to be wiped out by the side of
the truck. The
impact was like being hit with a George Foreman right hook or having
my neck twisted and snapped by a Navy Seal neutralizing the enemy.
My owner ran out to see if I
could be saved, but no luck. My feet were twisted off at ground level
and my face was torn off and thrown 50 feet. Yes, there had been a
mail delivery and the mail was scattered over the ground being
quickly covered by the falling snow.
The
plow and driver returned to the scene of the crime and assured my
owner that I would be repaired as soon as possible. Three days later, I was taken to a warm
warehouse to “rest” for the winter until the cold ground thawed
and I could be properly repaired. Meanwhile, they called in a “temp” to stand in my
place. I’ll call him ACE, at least that is what it says on the
bucket his feet are in. He must be a cousin on uncle Vinnie’s side
from Jersey if his feet are already in concrete. And I can only imagine where he will go after this
assignment. Maybe some long term under water work?
Editorial
Update: We
are happy to report that the mailbox of 30 years is now back in
service with a new post courtesy of the City of McHenry, Illinois
Department of Streets & Sanitation. This event actually happened, but no person(s) were injured during the situation.
Editorial
Correction: When we originally published this article, the date we ran in the "Byline"
(under the title), the date in the second paragraph and the date in
the "Cutline" (text under the video) was incorrect stating
the year being 2017. This true-life story actually occurred in 2018
(this year).
