April Fool's Day & the Flying Truck

Happy April Fool’s Day!

Where did this tradition come from? Although the true roots are not known, the most popular theory is that it began in France during the late 1500’s. The Gregorian calendar was adopted, changing the New Year from the traditional week long celebration from March 25 through April 1 to the date we currently recognize: January 1. Due to poor communication systems back then, as well the rebellious nature of some, many people either didn’t know of the change or refused to acknowledge the new date and continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1. Those who failed to make this change were the victims of pranks and made fun of as “April Fools”.
On this day of tricks and silliness I wanted to share this photo with you. First of all, let me tell you that this is NOT a joke. This is a real photograph, of a real pickup truck, and a real situation that occurred a number of years ago when my dad was working in Northern Peru. What is your first impression?

If you said that it looks like the truck is flying….you would be correct! The water below is a small tributary
of the Marañón River that intermittently fills with water after it rains and eventually drains into the Amazon River. When the work crew crossed the river that morning, it was a dry bed. At the end of the day, however, the water was so high that the crew could not drive across and actually got washed down river a bit. Since there were no bridges in the vicinity, the workers did what any of us would do – they called in a helicopter to carry them over the river!

Although it is true that many helicopters would not be able to lift this four-door vehicle, this was no ordinary helicopter. It was a Russian heavy-lift helicopter used by the Peruvian army to aid the contractors working on the oil well drilling project going on at the time. These contractors were very resourceful and cut a hole through the roof in order to secure the rope to the frame inside, thereby enabling the vehicle to dangle dangerously from the helicopter!

Look at the photo closely again. What do you see in the bed of the pickup? Yes – there are three people in the back. Apparently the first attempt to lift the vehicle off the ground was unsuccessful and the vehicle tipped precariously forward due to the weight of the engine. SO – the work crew loaded three additional workers and a spare tire into the back to act as ballast! (Honestly, I’m NOT making this up…it’s too crazy to be fake!)

Take a look at the photo one last time. Can you see the tree tops bending due to the air movement from the helicopter that was mere feet above them? Do you see the five “dots” in the water directly below the flying vehicle? Those are additional workers watching their comrades fly up, up, and away!

I don’t know how you feel about this photo, but this is an insurance agent’s worst nightmare! Admit it, we all do silly things that could get us in trouble (hopefully not as silly as this photo). That’s why it is important to make sure that your insurance policy provides the protection you need! Call our agency at 308-436-4202 or visit our website at http://www.insurance-by-katie.com/ and let us help you design an insurance program that is as “April-Fool-proof” as possible. (And by the way, the truck and its passengers all “landed” safely).

Have you done something that would make your insurance agent cringe?

1 comment:

  1. i always celebrated April fool day by using many tricks to make fun but was really unaware of history of its start.thanks for sharing the ifo

    ReplyDelete

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