Thank You Wise Stranger

Take one wedding the night before, add a previously used Jeep, an exhausted mother and a napping baby. Put it all into one day that just doesn’t seem long enough and you have a recipe for disaster. Being exhausted and in a hurry is not a good combination, add a new-to-you vehicle and you have a story. Not to mention it was on Thanksgiving weekend. I certainly had someone to be thankful for.

Being off work for 10 months I had nothing exciting or dressy enough to wear to a cousin’s wedding so I decided I deserved to shop. I went a little overboard, not being able to make up my mind on which outfit was best so I bought several with the intention of returning them. I also took an extra few minutes to buy some new undergarments (great sale and right beside the store I was in anyway).

That day was exciting enough with all the running around but it was the day of returning some items that I’ll never live down.

Baby Asleep = Mom Running Around

Once my 10 month old fell asleep I put on my shoes, grabbed the keys and clothes and made a plan. I had three stops to make an about an hour to do them in before my son woke up. I made my way to the shopping plaza for my first return, decided I could take an extra minute to walk to the next store for some more great deals and made my way back to my new to me vehicle carrying a delicate little bag filled with unmentionables.

My ears started ringing with a car alarm blasting and quickly realized it was my own vehicle. Taking a deep breath I decided panicking would only worsen the situation and thought back to what I heard worked to turn the alarm off. I also remembered my husband telling me that one of our key chains didn’t work as well as it should and would set the alarm off.

I started the Jeep. Still blaring. Turned off the Jeep. Seemed to be getting louder. Hit the panic button (the actual panic button). Still blaring. I looked around – no one seemed to be staring but I didn’t look very hard.

Called my husband. Woke up my son. My husband proceeded to squeal with delight, hearing the horn blaring before my even saying hello. He thought it was funny to then ask me what was up then confidently told me to do everything I already did to no avail. When he asked again if I started the vehicle I replied that I did and that now I was actually driving. I ordered him to come get me, to fix it as I parked perpendicular in empty parking spots.

My husband yelled something as I saw a “tough” guy pull up in a nice sports car, get out and walk towards me. I turned the vehicle off, went to pull the keys out of the ignition and horrifyingly realized they were stuck! I decided I would just go home since my husband wasn’t going to come save me but the vehicle would no longer even turn on! Jeep is now off, my husband telling me he can’t come because I have the car seat (and he has our son) and Mr Macho is headed my way.

“Your horn is blaring,” he said casually when I opened my door. I laughed and said I realized this but couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. He asked for my keys and I laughed more explaining they were stuck. He then asked if I was in park – DUH! the vehicle is off, my foots on the brake and I’m stopped but Oh… no, sorry.

I handed this strange man my keys and he simply unlocked my still opened door and then… there was silence!

Now, I’m not a very religious person but I was screaming Hallelujah with my whole body as Mr Macho walked away, my husband continued to laugh through the phone and I was on my way to my next stop.

Lesson learned that day? Don’t be so scared of a stranger, some of them are just trying to help.

Thank you gentle tough guy, I’ll forever be indebted. Next time you save me I’ll remember to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner.