David Bowie 'Outside'

This past Saturday, I was doing some work around the station. My boss and Rock 92’s Program Director, Doug McKnight, was tying up some loose ends before he left on a vacation. So, I took a chance and decided that I would open up to him a little.

I wouldn’t say that it backfired and I wouldn’t say that it was a bad move.

I asked if he passed the new downtown baseball stadium on his way to work or on the way home. He doesn’t.

I told him that I pass by it all the time and it scares the hell out of me. I will explain:

I drive home on Edgeworth Street and pick up Battleground Avenue from there. I pass right by the new Greensboro Grasshoppers stadium. And, in my opinion, it’s dangerously close to passing traffic.

If you’re driving on the same street that I’ve described, you’re also driving down the third base line and out of the park home run territory. For some reason, it scares me when I’m driving home and I know there’s a game in progress.

I will explain further…

As I drive by the stadium, I literally hunker down and await a foul ball or even a home run ball to come crashing through the back glass of my pick-up truck. I picture that happening in my head. But, that’s only the start of my fears.

The ball crashing through causes me to lose control and I hit the curb that causes my truck to flip on its side. Sparks are flying as my truck is skidding on the sidewalk and then I hit a telephone pole, which breaks my truck in half. The other drivers around me panic as well, sending cars into each other. A few of them even become airborne before crashing into me causing my gas tank to rupture and explode.

It’s like the obligatory thirty car pile up that you can find on any episode of ‘CHiPs’. That’s the general mayhem that’s in my mind as I pass by the new downtown stadium.

After telling Doug my deepest fears concerning the new ballpark, he flatly told me that I was being a little melodramatic and I’m not sure, but I think he even scoffed.

This week will mark a new era for me. I will be getting a new ATM bank card.

My bank has been bought out by another entity. They have already sent me an ATM card and today I received my new credit card.

I’ve used the same bank for twenty years and I still have the only ATM card that was issued to me. The card is still working even though it looks like it has been through the ringer. I’ve never needed a replacement. The imprinted numbers are almost flat now. My signature on the back was rubbed off a long time ago and parts of it are flaking off.

For some reason, I’m saddened about getting a new ATM card. I know I shouldn’t care and just move on, but it’s something that has become a part of me. Sure, it’s only a piece of plastic, but it has been with me for twenty years.

How many of you can say that about anything?

A pet?

A car?

A spouse?

I almost lost it once. I visited an ATM at the Golden Gate Shopping Center and the damn thing swallowed my card before I attempted to do anything. I just put it in and it just gobbled it up without asking for a PIN or anything.

It was a Friday night and I didn’t know what to do. I just needed some cash for the weekend. That’s all I wanted. That’s all.

I sat in my car wondering if the machine was going to spit it out. I didn’t want someone else to come along and use it or withdraw money from my account.

Someone drove up and used their card with no trouble at all. I was dumbfounded. The only thing I could do was wait until Monday and see what happened.

I walked in the bank around lunchtime, talked with a customer rep about what happened, and gave her the approximate time. She made a few calls and it turned out that the ATM went a little nuts over the weekend. The machine “captured” a handful of cards. She apologized, walked to someone’s office, and came back with my card.

We checked my account to make sure no transactions had taken place over the weekend and everything was cool. No problems were found.

They say that change is good and I’m always down with that. It’s just a little sad to part with something that I’ve had for so long.

Maybe I should have my ATM card bronzed?