I’m in the Dog House!

This is a letter I wrote to the editor of the Terre Haute Star Tribune earlier this week, but it doesn’t tell the whole story, and it especially doesn’t give the punch line.

Thank You for Your Hospitality Terre Haute Towing Companies

While visiting my daughter in Paris [Illinois], I decided to spend an evening in Terre Haute [Indiana] playing Buzztime Trivia (formerly the National Trivia Network) at Buffalo Wild Wings.  I have friends around the country with whom I play every Tuesday evening.  That night I learned a valuable lesson:  keep the cables in the car even if you drive a Prius.

It was nine pm Illinois time; ten pm Indiana time—not what I’d call late even if I had to get up for work—when I called for roadside assistance.  So why is it that every single tow company turned us down, even when we called the second time and said that instead of towing me back to Paris all I wanted was a jump?  (By then I had polled the other patrons in the restaurant and no one else had jumper cables, either.)  What did these people expect me to do—sleep in my car?  I’m sixty-one years old, I have arthritis, and it’s January.

I would truly like to thank Leigh at GEICO who pursued the matter for over an hour and a half, Ryan of Precision Collision in Paris who came to my rescue somewhere toward midnight (don’t ask me which time zone that was in), and the staff at Buffalo Wild Wings for their patience and support.

I’ll probably go back to play trivia when I’m in town, but I’ll remind my car not to break down unless it’s on the day shift.  Thanks for your hospitality, “gentlemen.”

When we got back to Paris and Ryan, the nice tow truck boy handed my keys to me, I looked at them—really looked at them.  I had tried to start my car three different times that night and I don’t know how I didn’t see it.  I was trying to start it with the accessories key.  I felt my face heat up as I dug into my coat pocket, pulled out the ignition key, and said, “Before you get your jump apparatus out of the shop, try this one.”  My baby started like a charm.

Meanwhile, my daughter and her boyfriend had arranged rides for work.  He starts at five am; she starts at seven.  She woke when she heard me taking the dogs out and I told her it was okay to drive the car and why.

“Again?  Leave those keys at home, Mom!”  She was mumbling about getting people up to give them rides as she went back to bed at one am—Illinois time, and I was felt terribly guilty and wide awake from the extra diet cola I drank while waiting for the tow truck.

For more laughs, check out my review of The Good Neighbors by J.Q. Rose.  Better yet, buy the book.  It’s 5 Roses worth of hilarious.  All the info’s over at Rochelle’s Reviews.  http://rochellesreviews.blogspot.com