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Wet Weather Antics at Sheppard Air Force Base

It was 1969. My high school summer job was running the candy vending machine route for Houston Vending Company on Sheppard Air Force Base. So, there I was, driving on one of Sheppard's main streets, daydreaming about who knows what. A short but heavy rain had just ended. A large puddle near the curb had formed, and I was headed straight for it.

Without thinking, I hit it without slowing down. Just as I did, I noticed a woman on the sidewalk walking toward me in her dress uniform. Suddenly, she disappeared behind a solid wall of water. She reappeared a second later, drenched. With the damage done, I saw no point in stopping. I mean, why volunteer for a butt-whipping? Besides, she shared some responsibility since she should have been aware of the risks of walking near roadside puddles.

I'm sure we both recall the incident from time to time, with varying levels of enthusiasm. She might feel better about the whole thing if she knew that, in 1977, while driving an open U.S. Army jeep after a heavy rain, I, too, was disappeared and soaked by a wall of water. I wasn’t in a dress uniform, though.