Oh my, I have a flat tire!

Have you ever had a flat tire? I don’t remember ever having one until just the other day. I thought flat tires were a thing of the past. I do remember them back during the war — World War II that is. I don’t think you could buy a new one. You just had to do with what you had. If you planned on going more than 10 miles, you would pretty well know you would have a flat before you got there.

I remember Dad always had a tire changing kit in the car and patches to fix the tube. When the tire got thread-bare, you could take it to a retreading shop. They would grind off what was left of the treads and volcanize new treads on. It didn’t always work because you would see treads along the highway that had come off.

Over the years, tires have improved a lot due to the Indy speedway. Tire companies use it year-round testing them. Of course, the price has gone up, as well. We had a race car owner in our town back in ’48, and he said their special racing tire cost $100 each. We thought that was unbelievable to pay that much for one tire.

Now about my recent flat tire awhile back, Mary and I were returning from a camping trip at Patoka Lake when luckily, we were only 7 miles from home when we suddenly heard a loud noise and the car started vibrating. Something was wrong. We got off the road and started wondering what to do. The answer appeared in a white car with flashing lights.

It was Detective Mark Holt from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Luck again was on our side. Without delay, he had his tire changing kit out and was lying down working on getting the tire off.

Along came other county police officer to help control the traffic. Of course, the trunk was full of camping stuff, so we had to unload everything to get to the doughnut spare. I wasn’t sure there was one since it’s something you never think about. In no time at all, the spare was on and all was good to go to the garage to order four new ones. Yes, the price has gone up.

We don’t always thank our lucky stars that we live in a great county such as Jackson County, Indiana. Our local, county and state police are always on duty making sure we are safe and taken care of. Changing a flat or approaching an unknown situation which could be dangerous is all in a day’s work for them. Let’s always give them a big thank you when you see them. Hopefully, not flashing in your rear view mirror.

Don Hill is a resident of Seymour and has served as a volunteer at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts for more than a quarter of a century. Send comments to [email protected].