It was a summer morning and teacher Dorothy was driving three of her middle school students to see the Barnum & Bailey Circus in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Along the way from Westport, CT there was a lot of verbal banter in the Volkswagen "bug." All four were having an enjoyable experience. As Jennifer said, "I don't like Dorothy. I love her!"
They lucked into a vacant parking space just next to Madison Square Garden and enjoyed two hours of exciting circus feats by clowns, jugglers and high wire antics. The band never stopped playing throughout the show and Dorothy, a viola teacher, hummed along with the Sousa marches.
Afterwards, with cotton candy and ice cream cones, they returned to the car and were schocked to see the red roof was dented down about six inches . A note on the windshield said: "Sorry about the accident. When we walked the elephants at intermission, one of them had his own red stool and thought your red car was his stool. We have notified our insurance company and they will pay for repairs." It was signed by the General Manager.
Fortunately, they could all fit inside the car without much difficulty, except for Dorothy who had to hunch her head down a few inches. Then it was off to the nearby Westside Highway, the Cross County Parkway and the Merritt Parkway to Westport. About an hour's drive normally.
But this was not going to be a normal day. As they approached Greenwhich,CT, there was an overturned car heavily damaged. Nearby were several Highway Patrol cars, a fire engine, an ambulance and a pickup truck involved in the accident. Dorothy slowed down, then speeded up to protect the children from seeing a tragedy.
A minute later they heard a siren and saw the Highway Patrol car along side theirs. The uniformed officer signaled them to pull over and park on the highway shoulder. Dorothy did and rolled down her window when the officer came over. He was at least six feet six tall, probably weighed 250 pounds and a handsome man in his thirties.
He asked Dorothy for her driver's licence, insurance and owner's certificate. She quickly complied and then he ordered her to step out of the car. Once out, he patted her down for weapons and then read her the Miranda Doctrine. She was under arrest for leaving the scene of an accident!
Dorothy protested vehmently to no avail. When Dorothy said, "an elephant sat on my car!"
That did it. The officer replied, "Tell that to the judge. You're going to court right now." And so they all went to Greenwhich Municipal Court and stood before the judge. This robed dictator set bail for Dorothy ($10,000), which she posted by check, and her car was impounded.
Jennifer called her dad in Westport to pick them up, which he did, and they all managed to laugh over the unexpected events of the day. Eventually, Dorothy's case was dismissed when the circus management vouched for the elephant's irresponsible sitdown on her car.
Arlene writes: From my friend, Ooana Trien (the computer thinks I am Jaxon)
ReplyDeleteOoana wrote a story that she got from her mother, who, in addition to performing on the trapeze, also performed with a partner elephant.
Here's a sweet Elephants in the circus story for you....
It didn't happen at Ringling. It happened at a circus in Europe where the tent was outside.
Elephants in the circus are all female. They are a matriarchy.
Despite what you've seen, the elephants teach the routine to each other with the matriarch in the lead - just like in the wild.
One day a baby elephant was brought from where they are bred in Germany and she joined the herd.
Now babies are very silly and a bit clumsy. They don't really know how to control their trunks yet. It's adorable.
Every herd in the circus has an Aunt that cares for the baby like a mother and all the females help care for her too. It's amazing to see.
The circuses in Europe often are outdoors. So sometimes they'd add a bit of rum to the water for the Elephants to warm them up. Just a bit.
Before the Elephants had their routine the clowns had theirs and it included a scene with a bedroom with a mattress in the center ring.
So in come the Elephants in formation with the baby in the middle. Now, apparently the baby got into the rum. Baby's trunk is all over the place... Prrrrr! Prrrrr! Prrrrr! Wobble wobble. Prrrrrr!
So all the Elephants stop. They begin to sway. In unison they break formation, pick up the mattress, place baby on it, take baby out of the ring on the mattress - place mattress back stage, come back out and complete their routine perfectly.
The trainer just stands there and waits knowing, ya’ don't get between a herd of ladies and their baby.