THE GUARDRAIL

                              I suppose your you wondering what I could be writing about a guardrail . Well this is a a story about something that happened to me many years ago . So long ago ,it seems a lifetime . I do not remember the names of the people involved , Even if I did I would not include them anyway .

                             This happened in a time of my life when partying was everything . The fact that I was in the Air force was only minor then . At the the time it was something I just had to do just to get to party time . I was station in West Germany at the time and my wife were separated at the time . We would eventually be divorced .So I guess I kind of went wild . Heck my , roommate she was even concerned that I was trying to be like Jim Morrison . At the time I read everything there was to be found ,that was written about him . I listen to my Doors albums almost constantly . Every night I looked for a reason and place to party . I tell you this to give somewhat what life was like form at the time .
                          On this cold winter night , I went to a rock club in a village nearby , it was one of my favorite haunts . I borrowed my roommates 60’s model 2002 BMW sedan . The main reason I went to the club was one of my favorite bands was playing there , Mallet . I hand become friends with members of the band .So when ever they came to town , I found a way to be there . While there I ran into a group of people that I and roommate knew . So the partying just escalated to another level . A god time was had by us all . I stayed longer than I intended .
                     On this Particular night , the roads had been wet all day . This mixed with the cold nights of Germany , the drive can get treacherous . Mix that with a hard night party, well that makes for a bad mix . Throw in some one that did not worry about consequences of his actions . I was just out for the good time .
                     My plan had been just to go straight home , but we all know what happens to plans . I hate say it , the best laid plans of mice and men always go awry . My friends needed a ride home , I could not just leave them there . They lived about twenty miles away . So I loaded them all up and off we went . I then proceeded to head toward the Autobahn to bring them home . I pulled on the on ramp , All was going well . I was accelerating to a speed to match that of the other traffic . I was getting confident in how I was handling everything ,the road , the load music from the radio and all the laughing and singing from the group in the the car . Yes , the party continued .
                   Then it happened I hit a patch of black ice , the surge of the autobahn . We all were warned about this in our safety classes , that we had every day in our units on base . Well the car began to spin , the rear end of the car tried to met up with the front end . We span for a while , the noise and confusion , I could hear my German friend profess his priorities at the time . I could hear his concern for his beer at the time . The statement , “my beer” could be heard above all else  . He then promptly place a finger on the opening of the bottle .
                Shortly after , there it was the  guardrail . We hit it with such impact that shook us all over the car . We slide along the guardrail for awhile before we came to a complete stop . As we sat there in the car in shock , it came to us what just happened . We slowly climbed out of the car to check the damage to the car and ourselves . Thankfully all we had was a few bruises , we all came out all right . This was silence among us for the first time the whole night as we checked out the car ,guardrail and each other . Them German friend proudly pronounced , “ I saved the beer “ . After which we all began to laugh as we began to pass the bottle around .
              Don’t ask me why I remember this night , I really have no idea . There must be a reason ,for what I don’t know But remember this fondly . Chalk it up to just a memory .