How could dat be?

"How could dat be?"

It was a query voiced by one certain friend of the family, I'll call him Cloyce just to give him a name, whenever he didn't understand something. We've probably all expressed such or similar remarks when we have been confused.

Me Pops liked to relate the tale of when he, Pops, had a car which spewed out all of its coolant. When he added some and started the engine, the new fluid poured out within a few seconds. It turned out he had blown a freeze plug.

Freeze plugs, I assume large gas engines still have them, are small metal discs machine pressed into ports on the side of a motor. They're called freeze plugs because if the engine got so cold that the fluid inside began to freeze and expand, they'd pop out, saving it from greater damage. A freeze plug you can replace. You crack an engine, you're replacing an engine.

A freeze plug could pop out at any time; it didn't require cold to go bad. As with so many other things in our fallen world, sometimes things just go bad for whatever reason.

So Pops was replacing the popped plug (which had chosen a hot summer day to blow out) when Cloyce happened around. "Whatcha doing Bill?" he asked.

"Replacing a freeze plug," the old man answered.

"How could dat be?" Cloyce exclaimed incredulously.

Dad replied with his own confused query, "What do you mean?"

"How the hell did a freeze plug pop out on a hot day like this?" demanded Cloyce.

After he stopped laughing me Pops explained how it could happen anytime. It didn't depend on the cold.