I’ve not once considered getting a tow package on my car. Coincidentally I’ve never once wanted to tow something with my car despite it being an SUV for a number of years now. a) I’ve had nothing to tow, and b) the idea of me trying to wrap the backwards directional features of turning a trailer into a logical concept for my brain is beyond laughable.
Let’s take a pause while the people who know me get their giggles out.
BrightSide on the other hand has plenty of experience towing. That man’s hauled a tractor, car, boat, and motorcycle along with assorted bits and such that did not fit into a vehicle’s cargo space. He’s achieved pro status on both driving and backing up a trailer, a feat that boggles the mind. The backing up part. Have you ever seen someone back a trailer?? It’s a dance.
Back, forth, gentle right to go left, hard left to make a sharp right — it hurts my brain just picturing it. He did hit a blip with the safety feature on his car. For some reason it wasn’t recognizing the trailer so it thought he was repeatedly backing into something and slamming on the brakes while he was trying to back it into our driveway. I swear I would’ve thrown that thing in park and called in the calvary but he conquered that blip too.
The one time I really wished I had a tow hitch was when I overshot my parking on a gravel driveway and dropped my front end into a ditch. Well, ditch isn’t quite accurate…it was more like a deep dip filled with landscaping stones. To-may-to, to-mah-to. Either way that wheel started spinning as I tried to get myself out and I was screwed. BrightSide was already on his way and asked me to find a place to hook the chain. You know what would be fantastic in that situation? A tow hitch.
Oh well. C’est la vie.
Linda hosts Stream of Consciousness Saturday. This week’s prompt is “toe/tow.” Use one, use both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points for using both. Have fun!
Riddle from the Middle 
I haul a small utility trailer behind an equally small SUV. Backing up is hard enough, but our driveway narrows as it goes between the house and hedge. I usually manage to get the trailer in, but it often takes a couple tries.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If at first you don’t succeed…well, in my case it would be back up and try another dozen times. The hubby is usually chill but when the neighbors are on their porch watching him back a trailer into the driveway the stakes feel a bit higher.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I grew up camping, and to this day I’m amazed by the “dance” my dad did when parking our trailer at the site pad. My hubster is capable of doing the same thing. It floors me every time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right?? I drove a jet ski a few times and it had a similar thing when you were backing out of the dock — turn handlebars left to make the back end go right and vice versa. I had to talk out loud to myself every time I tried. People who can instinctively do this sort of thing are superheroes in my mind!
LikeLiked by 1 person
💯
LikeLiked by 1 person
This made me laugh Joanna 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes we just accept the complicated thing as a skill we don’t have and keep it moving. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
In college, I worked on a five-person lawn mowing crew. I was the only one who could back the trailer into the barn. Talk about street cred. Great use of the prompt, Laura.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel like backing a trailer is such a specific skill that is highly regarded but also one you’d never think to specifically develop. I’d imagine the mental acuity required to negotiate the mechanical aspect of backing something attached by a hitch translates to many other things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never gave it much thought, but I think you are right.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sure is nice to have a partner who’s strong in skills we have not developed. David had a job driving a tow truck in his late teens (I forgot to write about that). He’s great at most practical things, not cleaning crumbs off the counter though. We’re strong in skills they need, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The crumbs on the counter😂🤣. Our partners have something in common besides driving large work vehicles in high school (mine drove dump trucks for the highway department). We definitely balance one another in the skillset category.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 Makes sense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
well, who knew?….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep yep…😂
LikeLike