The Dime Paper

    Me, my two brothers, little sister, father, and mother were on our way back from vacation from North Carolina. My dad was driving and he did not let our mother drive for anything, so of course he was a bit on the tired side. 

    Our station wagon stopped at a local gas station about ten minutes from home, dad had to air in the tires and gas in the car. He gave me a dime to go and get a newspaper from the newspaper dispenser that was on the farside of the parking lot next to a light pole. I went up to the dispenser put in the dime and jiggled the handle, it was stuck fast. I tried the handle again and again, the machine wouldn’t give the paper. So I returned to the car and told dad what had happened.

    Dad gave me another dime and told me to try again. I took the coin, plodded over to the machine, put the money in the slot, jiggled the handle, and just as I realized that the machine was not going to budge, a size 13 shoe smashed into the side of the newspaper dispenser and sent the machine flying through the air. In a fit of rage that only the philistines saw from Samson, my father began to wail on the machine with the crowbar that he kept in the back of the car for emergencies only. 

    He then looked at me, with that fire still smoldering in his eyes he said, “Go and get the rest of my tools! We will get the news today!”

    Well, about that time my mother came over and reigned in her husband and got us all back in the car. Dad got us all home in ten minutes.

    The next day, I was again with dad as we were driving into town. We drove past that same gas station and that same machine was back in its place with a big, white “Out of Order” sign on it. I looked at my dad and he just smirked.