Mrs. Rudge

Mrs. Rudge was a sweet little English women who ran a candy store to support herself.  She had followed her married sister from England to our town.  Mrs. Rudge was certainly unique.  She drove a little black Ford and she drove just like they did in England.  She didn't believe in stop signs or right-of-ways or driving on the right side of the road. She maintained that every one knew it was safer to drive on the left side of the road. It was always a major adventure whenever Mrs. Rudge began a drive.  Other drivers would see Mrs. Rudge approaching on their side of the road and were completely confused as to whether to swerve, stop or back up. This was especially difficult for tourists who were passing through our town.

Several proposals had been made to the city council to blow the town's siren whenever Mrs. Rudge started a drive.  This would warn other drivers to get off the road because Mrs Ridge was coming.  This siren could be heard all over the valley and was originally installed to alert volunteer fire fighters that they were needed to fight a neighborhood fire. This proposal was never adopted because fire fighters would not know whether there was really a fire or just Mrs. Rudge.

Mrs. Rudge not only campaigned to change our driving habits, she also felt that women should dress with comfort as the primary consideration.  She wore a pair of old house slippers whenever she left her little home.  It didn't matter if the event she was attending was formal or a Church function or a trip to the store.  She always wore her house slippers.  Some of the local ladies were envious, especially those with bunions.
However they just didn't have the courage to copy Mrs. Rudge.

Personally, I loved Mrs. Rudge.  She had the most interesting store in the whole world.  I would stand looking through the front store window for long periods of time trying to decide how I would spend my 25 cents.