My First Day in Pawtucket

After living in Texas for the last two years, I can hardly remember the last time I saw my breath when walking outside.  After this morning, I get the feeling this will be a common sight for the next few months.

My name is Aaron Goldsmith and I couldn’t be more grateful to have be chosen as one of the radio broadcasters for the PawSox.  My wife Heather and I, along with my brother-in-law, Stephen, recently made the 30-hour road trip from Frisco, a suburb 25 minutes north of downtown Dallas, to Hingham, MA where my in-laws live.

I’m sure you can remember what the “first day” at a new job feels like.  If you’re like me, you felt excited, anxious, and just a little nervous.  Tuesday was my first day with the PawSox and I had about an hour long car ride from Hingham to Pawtucket to mentally prepare for my first day.

Prior to Tuesday, I had only been to McCoy Stadium one other time and I hardly remembered how to exactly get there off the highway.  As I was looking down at the map on my phone just minutes away from the ballpark, this happened:

Yup, I ran into the back of the car in front of me.  I managed to drive 1,782 miles from Frisco to Hingham without a scratch.  But two miles from McCoy on my first day of work I crunched my hood.

Kim, the driver of car in front of me, is a sweet local fourth grade teacher who found the perfect excuse to be tardy on the first day back to school from vacation.  Fortunately she and I were both fine and it was my car that took the brunt of the damage.

Less than a quarter mile up the road was an auto body shop where I was able to drop off my car.  Manny, the owner of the shop, was so kind that he even offered to drive me the rest of the way to the ballpark.  I never would have guessed that I would be chauffeured to work on my first day, but it sure beat walking!

The rest of the work day went well as I started to settle in and learn where everything is.  The PawSox were gracious enough to let me borrow a team car so that I could get back home that night and avoid making my wife drive all the way to Pawtucket to pick me up at the end of the day.

When it was closing time, I climbed into the team’s car and followed the signs to I-95.  I could see the highway a few blocks away when I happened to notice flashing lights in my rear view mirror.

“Someone behind me must be getting pulled over,” I thought.  I began to veer towards the curb when I saw that the policeman had his lights on for me!

I can’t make this stuff up.

I rolled down my window and was then told in a thick Rhode Island accent, “you didn’t come to a complete stop at the stop sign.”

In the span of eight hours I had more interaction with the police than I had in last eight years.  What a perfect way to impress my new employer and meet the locals.

I explained to the officer that my current car was borrowed and then briefly told him of my morning’s misfortune.  To my extreme pleasure he had a kind heart and let me off with a warning. Needless to say, I was driving at 10-and-2 all the way home.

As long as I can finish today without any police involvement, I’ll call Day 2 a roaring success.

-AG