Exhibit A
I locked Eleanor in the car today. With my car keys.
I’m not sure how it happened, but I buckled Eleanor in her car seat, threw my car keys in the front seat (which I often do so I don’t accidentally loose them amongst the groceries), and closed the door. Which LOCKED. All I can think is that the key fob locking button got pushed when I tossed the key into the seat. But, whatever. Toddler, locked car, no keys. We’re here now.
So there I was, staving off panic. What can I do??? I had a phone, so I could call for help, either from Tony or from AAA, but it was cold, and I wasn’t about to leave Eleanor in the car by herself to take Saralyn inside to warm up. And I had all these groceries. I said to myself, let’s see if I can get a toddler to pull a Houdini.
So, there I am at noon on Sunday in the Kroger parking lot (regretting getting that front row parking space) shouting at Eleanor to wiggle out of her car seat. Elly threw the shoulder strap off and then thought the best plan of escape was to slide down… to the point where her arms were above her head and the lap belt was under her armpits. Then she flipped onto her tummy, and started heading north again. She got stuck a few times, and that was the most frightening part for me. I would have hated for Elly to get into a panic and me not get to her. But she was a real pro. She wiggled till she got free. Then I talked her into the front seat, where we played a rousing game of “no, not that button.”
Eleanor, for all her curiosity, is not good at finding things. If you say, “Hand me the widget on the floor, and she doesn’t know what a widget is, she can’t be directed to it. She doesn’t do very will with “no, that’s a whatsit, move your hand down. The widget is one down from the whatsit.” Her hand just goes waving around. At one point she put her hand on the electronic door lock toggle, which she just mashed on downward, locking the already locked locks. I gave up on that tactic, and tried to get Eleanor to pull up the individual lock on the drivers door. Frustratingly full of failure, that one. Then I got the brainwave, have her pick up the keys and push the much more familiar to her fob buttons. That took about 30 seconds. I said, “Pick up Mommy’s keys,” and she did. “Now grab the biggest part.” Now, as demonstrated from Eleanor’s cookie selections, she KNOWS how to pick the biggest. “Now push the SMALL button.”
Click.
Free.
Sigh.
I know it took only about 10 minutes, but it felt longer. I was just glad no one called the police on me. I felt STOOPID. But, as I often find, the kind people of the world make it a place really worth living. Saralyn was being entertained on the other side of the car by a lady who I was inconveniencing (I had wheeled Saralyn over to her side of the car, and the cart was blocking the driver’s side door of this lady’s car.) She was sweetly making doe eyes when I came around after my crisis ended. She said, “Honey, this happens to the best of us,” and was SO patient while I got everyone and everything out of her way.
Keeping calm and the kindness of strangers: that’s what I’m thankful for today.
SO, I feel like there should be a CONTEST now:
Tell me your best tale of crisis and how a stranger helped you out. Tony and I will pick the best tale and the winner will get bragging rights, and a little gifty mailed to you. Leave your story in the comments section by 5PM Sunday the 7th. And… GO!
So I was a teenager and it was a weekend and my sister and I were cruising the ‘strip’. On the strip was a Burger King with a slanted parking lot and a four foot drop to the street below. I was in a 1984 Fiero 4-speed and I was always afraid of ‘rolling’. That split second between the clutch/brake and gas FREAKED ME OUT.
That night I was feeling especially anxious in my slanted state and in my attempt to go SOVERYQUICKLY from clutch/brake to reverse I accidently put it in 1st, gunned it, and jumped the parking block high-centering myself over the four foot drop to the street.
Thank God Fiero’s keep the engine in the back. I NEEDED the leverage.
People were honking and laughing like crazy. I wanted to die. Eventually I was saved by four farm boys, also out cruising, that saw me in my precarious state. They stood on the sidewalk below the car, PICKED IT UP while I had it in neutral and pushed my car (with me in it) safely back onto the lot.
They earned a standing ovation from my sister, my friends, everyone on the strip and most of the staff at Burger King.
Now I drive an automatic!
When I was in college, I did the obiligatory backpack-around-Europe thing for a month. On my way out, I had to fly to Paris by myself and then take a night train to Rome, where I was meeting some friends. On the train, I suddenly discovered that I was the ultimate stupid American. I had never traveled by train before, let alone a train in FRANCE, and I didn’t know how to do anything. I knew two French words, “oui” and “merci.” And I was sharing a compartment with three creepy old French men. Yes, really.
When nighttime came (remember, this is an overnight train), I realized that I was going to have to sleep in this compartment with the three men. And I couldn’t even figure out how to fold down a bunk. One of the old guys took pity on me and helped me with the bunk, helped get me and the backpack up onto the bunk (he gave me the top), showed me where the bathroom was, offered me a piece of his chocolate bar, and basically did everything he could to make sure that this dumb, confused, American kid who could do nothing but gesture and say, “oui” and “merci” got to Rome alive, rested, and in one piece.
It was tremendously kind and I think of it often whenever I have the opportunity to help someone who is clearly lost.
Not sure if that is what you are looking for (it’s not as funny as the key story), but it’s what I’ve got.
When I was pregnant with my oldest son, my husband and I were in a town over from ours, coming back from a physical therapy appointment. He had just had surgery on his shoulder about two weeks prior. We ran out of gas! this is back when very few people had cell phones! So my husband walks up to the nursing home and asks to use the phone..they wouldnt let him! So we are sitting in the car, its hot as can be, and im about 7 months along. The police stop by, ask for identification?? So I hand them my license, and they are on the radio calling something in, come back and tell me they are going to have to take me to jail because I am listed as a run away!!! I say no, I am 18 you can call my dad, I am married!!! So then they wanted my maiden name and social security number, I gave it to them, and they said, oh we made a mistake we are looking for another Jennifer *******..and THEY LEFT! we explained to them that we needed gas, we were about two miles from a station, I was big and pregnant and it was HOT! they left! So my husband doesnt want to leave me alone, and frankly I dont want him to, so we are standing outside the car trying to figure something out.. I told him I would just lock the doors, I would be ok, just hurry..His arm is still ina sling. Finally, after a ton of cars go by a nice older man stops by and takes my husband to the gas station and back! I was so thankful for him, I wrote an article and sent it to that towns paper!! I actually have several of these weird stories LOL.