A few months earlier we were all offered the opportunity to take college credit courses with the company footing the bill. I had taken some computer courses years before that but now I had a chance to work for a degree not just a certificate. I'd never used the knowledge I had in the first place. I signed up for two or three computer ones. I was now going to school three days a week.
It was winter. We had a blizzard. Sometimes the events come back but the timeline remains fuzzy. I was still on the glue line because I was wearing a white short skirt uniform.
I was at work when it started coming down heavy. I was on second shift then. By the time our shift was done, it was announced that due to the weather, third shift was not running. Some folks turned up any way because they were already half way there when it started. They stayed but I don't know if they worked or not. Most, I was told later never showed up at all.
When I finally got out to the car it was coming down so heavy and so fast you couldn't see a thing. It was about four in the afternoon.
I would drive a bit and the car would stall. I'd get it started and it would stall again. I don't know for sure but I think I did get as far as the village when it quit on me again. This time a state trooper came over to help me. He lifted the hood of the car. It was easy to see the problem.
Snow was piling up on the fan blades. He cleared it as best he could but he told me there was no way I could get up the hill to our house. He told me to follow him. I did but he stopped again at another stalled vehicle. He asked me if I'd mind taking her with me. I didn't even know at that point where I was going. If I couldn't get up my hill I had no where to go. I told him that and he said he'd find us a place to shelter. A few minutes and another stalled car later, we had gained a young man.
The trooper led us all down to the Pleasant Valley Infirmary. When he asked if we could wait out the storm their, he was told no. He finally had to order them to let us in. They were not happy. We were led to what was a small room with tables and chairs. I think it was a lounge thing for people to eat in but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for the patients.
The chairs were big hard wood barrel chairs with the arms coming in a circle around you. I couldn't see a bony old person sitting in one of them for long. I guess all the patients ate in their rooms. We were not allowed to leave the room except for going to the restroom and I don't think they liked that either.
They knew we had no food or drink or anything to keep us warm. They offered us nothing. Not even a cup of coffee. I was the only one at this point with a car there. It wasn't going anywhere till the storm let up and the roads got plowed.
The three of us sat there and shivered. The heat must have been set real low or possibly we were just chilled already and there was nothing to warm us up. The other girl and maybe the guy, too, were from the catheter place next to ours. I didn't know either of them. She was a little better off than me because she was wearing a pant suit but it was still nylon so I bet it was no warmth at all.
I got an idea and went out to my car after making sure they'd not lock me out if I did that. I had an old coat out there and a blanket I'd used for taking a cat to the vet a few weeks before. I hauled them both in with the woman on the desk sniffing at me. I wasn't going to freeze to death because she was so snooty so I kept on walking.
We spread the coat on the floor and the three of us laid down together and pulled the blanket over us. I think I stuck my purse under my head for a pillow. We were still cold but a little bit more comfy than before.
I always wondered it they treated us that bad, how did they treat the old ones?
Morning came and still we were offered nothing. It wouldn't have killed them to give us a pot of coffee.
The trooper came back and took the other two in his car. He told me he was going to get us into Hudson Falls but I had to follow close behind him and not stop for anything. I don't know what he did with the other two but I figured Millie would take me in for a night at least.
Driving in there was crazy. I could barely see his tail lights. Only one lane was plowed. Snow was blowing and drifting. In a lot of places it was too high to see over the top so I had no idea where I was. I knew the trooper was following the snow plow. I thought we'd gone a long way but it was hard to tell. There was a big noise up ahead that sounded like metal but the trooper had told me to keep going so I didn't stop.
I caught a glimpse of it as we passed it. There was a now smashed vehicle in the snow bank. I hope to God whoever had driven it that far had managed to get out the night before and weren't still in it.
As we neared Hudson Falls, the snow was a lot less. I was on my own by then because the cop had gone on knowing I'd make it at that time. I got to Millie's and she let me stay. I don't know how long I was there, maybe three days. There was still college classes so I went. I had my books with me in the car. I had nothing to wear but my uniform but Millie washed it out for me so I wouldn't stink. I still had to go to work so I was doing that, too. I still couldn't get home because my road wasn't plowed. I did call Mom and let them know where I was and that I was all right. I wore that same uniform to classes and to work. I was real glad when some of the snow melted and the road finally got plowed.