Always Be Prepared

from page 7

I’ve always been pretty good at math. I understood completely that we could hike for five miles with this scoutmaster who was reliving some sort of unpleasant boot camp experience, or I could hike for a mile and a half and be home. I’ve never been big on taking punishment for someone else’s actions, so I decided that my hike would be in a southwestern direction. This was a precursor to a song that I would write one day: If I Ain’t Digging It, I Ain’t Doing It

I talked it over with Mikey. The vote came back 2 to 0 to say screw the fivemile death march. Off we went, out of the State Forest, across Fairgrounds Road, down Newtown Road to the Hooper Farm Road area where we both lived. I bid adieu to my intrepid fellow escapee Mikey. I walked into my house, grabbed some cereal and commenced to relax on the couch while watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Several hours later, all hell broke loose. My dad walked in, looked at me and said something along the lines of “What the bleep are you doing here?” His face had a strange mix of relief and anger that indicated I was going to receive some combination of a hug and a butt whupping. Next thing I know, cops and firemen were in my front yard, both relieved and curious as to how the morning’s events had come to be. It seems that the scoutmaster had only been blustering about the five-mile trek. Hey, I’m 11 years old, right: how was I to know? One of the cops said, “You dumb kid—the whole town is looking for you. We’ve got a plane circling over the forest!” I did the only thing I could think to do to perhaps minimize the trouble I was in—I started bawling. My poor father just shook his head sadly for the first time of many, many more such opportunities I would provide him with.

Enough of this childhood trauma talk—let’s get back to preparedness. I keep a couple of items in my truck that are pretty solid additions for fishermen and not a bad idea for everyone. The driver’s door pocket of my truck contains a tourniquet. This device, purchased for less than $15 on Amazon, could be the difference between life and death. Cops and other first responders are routinely carrying these now. They’re lightweight, simple to use, and when you need one continued on page 17