The other day, I had to take the IncrediMom Mobile into the shop. Now, IncrediDad thought he would be using his head by leaving before IncrediMom and Boy Wonder. Our mechanic has a nice waiting area, free coffee, and wifi. Really, there are worse places to be stranded without a car for a few minutes.
Her car died in the middle of an intersection, three blocks from the mechanic. It was idling at a red light but as soon as traffic started to move, I tapped the accelerator and nothing happened. A few more taps, and somehow I coaxed the engine to rev up enough to get me through the intersection. I coasted into a nearby strip mall, praying that the car would keep moving and no one would hit me.
When the car finally rolled to a stop in a vacant parking spot, I looked down at her radio. It was dead. The numbers on the clock were gone, the lights were out. So I turned the car off, waited a second, and tried to start it up again. Nothing. There was no clicks, no chugging, no sign that this vehicle was even thinking about starting up again. This car was dead.
At this point, I had two phone calls to make. The first one was to a tow truck. The next one was to Bex. She was on her way out of the apartment as we spoke. I let her know where to meet me and we hung up. That’s when I felt the garage opener in my pocket. We must have had the same thought because my cell phone rang again. It was Bex, asking about the garage clicker. Since we only have one, she was going to have to sweet talk one of our apartment maintenance guys into opening our garage for her. Meanwhile, I’d wait with the dead car, dreaming of much better places to be stranded.
Despite myself, the story had a happy ending. Bex showed up, then the tow truck, and at some point today I get to go pick the car up. That’s a good thing too because I’m not a big fan of walking, unless it’s to the fridge. So the moral of the story IncrediDads; If I’d only use my head, then I wouldn’t have to use my feet.