Go Ahead On

We had this sergeant in the army, I don't remember his name, but he was my boss for awhile, I don't remember how long. One of my duties was to drive the Fire Direction Control van for our 81 MM mortar section. Although we called it a van, it was actually a 3/4 ton pickup truck with a homemade plywood windowless camper on the back. They actually made a steel box for that purpose, but we didn't have them in Berlin, so somebody had given my predecessor permission to build this box out of scrounged materials. It was an ungainly vehicle, slower than the rest of our trucks, but we liked it. Anyway, this sergeant used to ride with me when we went to the field.

My job title was Fire Direction Controller. I was supposed to have an assistant and a truck driver, but we were short handed so I did all three jobs for awhile. Eventually they gave me an assistant, and I barely got him trained before I went home on a 30 day leave. His name was Jimmy, and I jokingly referred to him as "my men", even thought there was only one of him. One thing I had to warn Jimmy about was the peculiar habit this sergeant had of saying "Go ahead on." no matter what it was he wanted you to do. We'd come to a road junction, I'd say, "Which way Sarge?", and he'd say "Go ahead on." Then I would have to ask him, "Go ahead on which way?" Then he would either say, "Go ahead on straight, go ahead on left, or go ahead on right." One time we were on a rough road so I started to slow down. The sergeant said "Go ahead on", which I assumed meant to go faster, so I went faster.
"What are you, nut's? You're going way too fast for this road."
"I know, but you said 'Go ahead on'."
"Well of course I meant 'Go ahead on, slow down'."
I am not making this up!
Anyway, Jimmy cured the sergeant of saying "Go ahead on." while I was home on leave. They came to a "T" in the road, Jimmy asked which way, the sergeant said "Go ahead on", and Jimmy drove that ungainly truck straight across the road, through the ditch, and out into the bumpy field. I don't think Jimmy mentioned that I had explained the "Go ahead on" command to him, which turned out to be a good thing, because that sergeant never said "Go ahead on." again.

The reason I'm telling you guys this story is so that you'll know what I mean when I say you should go ahead on and write whatever you want in your posts. If I don't always respond, it doesn't mean that I'm mad at you. If I am mad at you, I will say so in no uncertain terms. I certainly read all of your posts. If I don't respond, it just means there is nothing I want to say about the subject at the moment, maybe tomorrow.

I've been trying to get more information about that "Meeting of Minds" show, since watching it on You Tube has raised a few questions. Here's what I've gotten so far: A total of 24 episodes were made for TV between 1977 and 1981. Only about half of them are currently on You Tube, posted by private citizens from their own recordings, and not in any particular order. Some VHS copies were made back in the day, but they have become collector's items and are now quite pricey. The sons of Steve Allen own the copyright and have shown no interest in putting the show on DVD. Too bad, they sure don't make shows like that anymore.