Love, and unlocked cars

G. GEORGE OSTROM / For the Hungry Horse News

Thieves steal things out of "unlocked" cars in the Flathead every day. The law reports in the daily are full of such incidents. Reading about those this week reminded me of something which happened to me in Canada several years back, so I dug out that column from 21 years ago. There's a lesson for Americans there:

… 10-02-1988 Column …

Except for parts of a few months spent "mooching off the old folks," I have not lived in my parents home for around 45 years. Boarded and batched in town during high school, worked summers on ranches and with Forest Service. Quit school my senior year to go to the service. Got that first ranching job away from home at age 14. That's the way things were a generation or two ago, before they invented "underprivileged," the "minimum wage," and the new "child labor laws." Wouldn't trade my early work experience for anything, but there were some deprivations for both me and my mother.

Took her up to a church meeting last Sunday night and brought her home a couple of hours later. As we went through the heavy back door to her apartment building I somehow let it swing shut on the end of my finger. The @$%*$#@ thing squashed the nail and raised my discomfort level 800 degrees … but I didn't cry … or even cuss. Bade my mother a hurried goodbye and headed home to soak the damaged digit in ice water.

Monday morning she called to see how I was doing and said, "Georgie, I felt terrible about your finger. I just wanted to hold you on my lap and rock you 'til it got better."

The vision of a 180-pound, 60-year-old man, curled up on his tiny mother's lap, sucking his thumb, got me to chuckling so hard I could hardly eat my hotcakes.

A little later I got to thinking back to childhood years so long ago, and how comforting it was to be held in my mother's arms in the old rocking chair, when things weren't going too well. Got up and wandered into our bedroom where some of my old kiddie toys and "things' were tucked away into a special drawer.

First wife Iris came in and asked what I was doing so I told her about the phone conversation with my mother. Also mentioned that my finger still hurt.

She looked at me for a little while then said, "Gee Honey! I suppose I could rock you for a few minutes … but with your teddy bear???"

Saw a sign at a campground in Banff National Park a couple of weeks ago that said, "LOCK IT OR LOSE IT." In Canadian Provinces they really mean it. The sign reminded me of a couple years back when I had a pair of ski boots stolen from my car during the short five minutes Iris and I were checking out of a Banff motel. The thief only had to open the back door of the car.

The Mounted Police showed some sympathy for my having lost the expensive boots but then said they could fine me for carelessness. Said they were too busy with bigger things than baby sitting forgetful folks, and told me the fine for leaving a car unlocked was 20 bucks. Looked at my surprised face and let me off "this time."

There are other things we Flathead folk do which are against the law in different parts of the United States as well as Canada. Better not have bald tires, broken tail lights, or other auto deficiencies with contribute to accidents in California, Seattle, et cetera. Here they might warn us but in those places they lower the boom.

China shoots people for things that are misdemeanors here. Turkey even has the death penalty for drunk driving. Sure glad I didn't get my ski boots stolen in a place like that.

G. George Ostrom is a Kalispell resident and a national award-winning Hungry Horse News columnist.