Janet was the proud owner of an antique sewing machine. It was one of her obsession to show off her machine in fairs and antique shows. Her husband, Jim, had other thoughts about the sewing machine because he was the one who had to load up and unload the machine. His wife would stand over him and demand him not to scratch the cabinet. Her worrisome voice screamed each time Jim moved the machine to get in their car.

In September, the State Fair of Texas opened. The fair included an antique show. Janet was asked to show her antique sewing machines at the fair. She had great hopes that her machine would win a blue ribbon. She took shined and greased her machine. She wanted her Singer to function perfectly at the show. She found thread that was made the same year the antique machine was manufactured. She wanted everything to be perfect. Instead of using her car to carry her machine, she had Jim lease a Ford pick-up truck. She was not going to depend on Jim’s loading the machine in her car.

She vigilantly covered her machine in blanket to make certain the machine and cabinet would not be scratched. She had Jim pack the machine on the floor of the pickup. Jim wanted to secure the Singer sewing machine against the back wall of the pick-up. However, Janet complained in opposition to this idea thinking it would dent the machine’s cabinet. She commanded that he put the machine in the middle of the bed and fasten it with minimal ties.

As Janet drove the truck to the State fair, she wondered if the judges would know all the ins and outs of collectible antique sewing machines and how rare her Singer model was. While driving, she drove into a big pot-hole that jolted the truck. With a big crash the antique sewing machine hit the bed of the truck. Janet screamed in revulsion as she saw her showpiece lying in the back of the truck.

Janet unpacked her precious sewing machine discovered scratches and dents in the cabinet. When she opened the cabinet up thread spool was bent and the foot petal was jammed. Her hopes for a first place win seemed to be gone forever. Jim encouraged her to enter her machine and pay no attention to the damages.