Whenever I hear of "Ryder" trucks, I think of the Oklahoma City bombing.
I find that ridiculously fascinating. My memories of an event that riveted me when I was a kid are triggered by a moving truck that I pass on the highway. And honestly, if it were not for those trucks, the event itself would be placed on a shelf in the back of my mind, rarely dusted off. How does that happen? How does such a significant event in recent American history become synonymous with a moving truck?
I thought about this a lot during a recent long car ride. I was curious if I was the only one who viewed Ryder trucks in the same manner. I asked Grace, and she said she thought of moving. Adam said two of Ryder's colors. But Kevin proved to me that I'm not alone in this thought.
I wonder what a nationwide poll would say? I wonder what Ryder executives would say? Let's say we kept up our 50% rate of people connecting Ryder to the bombing. That can't be a good thing for business, could it? Maybe for some people it wouldn't matter when choosing a moving truck, but for folks like me, well, all things equal, I'd rather go with Budget or some other truck company. Yeah, just because I think of that truck detonating in front of that building back in 1995. Crazy.
That also got me thinking about other things that I associate with major events. There are plenty of plane crashes I can think of. Whenever I hear TWA, I automatically think of TWA 800. Obviously the 9-11 crashes. But you know what's a weird one? Sticking with the transportation theme, whenever I see a white economy van with tinted windows I think of the DC Sniper. Every time a van like that passes me on the highway (only the white ones) I literally cringe and slump a bit in my seat. I just think "what if"...
But back to Ryder. Now I am curious to know the next time Adam or Grace see a Ryder truck if their minds will think of this post and Oklahoma City, or will Ryder trucks still remain relatively insignificant to them. Or the next time I see a Ryder truck, I wonder if I will immediately think of Oklahoma City, or will I think of Adam and Grace and wonder if they are thinking of Oklahoma City??? Interesting...
Is there anything that triggers a distant memory every time you see/hear it?
~Mikey D
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4 comments:
I'm not the only one! It's like you said, "if it were not for those trucks, the event itself would be placed on a shelf in the back of my mind, rarely dusted off."
I don't jump to plane crashes from TWA or to the DC sniper from a white van though.
And I would have no problem renting a truck from Ryder. I don't hold them bombing against them. Although I'm sure the close association has to hurt business.
Haha, whenever I park a car in a parking garage I think: "Does the car look tilted?" Does that count?
I can think of a lot of things that trigger memories, but most of them are personal memories that only a few people would share. I'm having a hard time coming up with a (non-obvious) trigger for a memory that would be more widely shared.
The closest I can come up with is when someone says "hurricane." I think most people would think of Hurricane Katrina first, but the first one that comes to my mind is Hurricane Andrew.
Yeah, I was thinking more major events rather than personal events (although it's pretty funny you think of that quote when you park a car, haha, good times). And I've been trying to think to others, but it's hard. I'm really trying to come up with objects that trigger the memory, not so much words like "TWA" or "Hurricane" (although those work, and I like your Hurricane Andrew one...very obscure).
You know what I think is interesting about my DC Sniper one? When they busted the guys, they weren't in a white van- They had some old undercover police car. There was no white van. Yet that's my trigger.
My thought was wrong, by the way. Budget and UHaul both use orange, Ryder doesn't.
Red vans make me think of Miss Finch. Who is Miss Finch, you ask? The villain from "Follow That Bird" - a full length Sesame Street movie from the 80s.
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