So tell me if this has ever happened to you…

It’s been a long day. You’ve been up since 6:30 and in back-to-back classes from 9:30 to 3:30. You’ve driven the hour commute home, prepared dinner, finished the grocery list, and gone back out to go food shopping. It takes you over half an hour to fill the cart with the supplies needed to keep a family of six running for one week. You pile all the food and other sundry on the conveyor belt, pay for it, and then pile it all strategically in the trunk of your sporty little car.

Then you sit down, buckle yourself in, and start the car. Or at least, you attempt to. But the ignition isn’t working – the key won’t turn. You try half a dozen times, all the while offering muttered prayers, to no avail. You try locking and unlocking the doors, thinking it might be a security issue. You read the manual. Nada.

And so you do what any grown person would do in your situation. You call your mom. She doesn’t have any ideas and moreover, she can’t come rescue you. You can’t help it – you start to cry. Of all the days… you’ve been planning this weekend trip for over a month now. Without this car, you won’t be going. You’re tired and you’re frustrated.  Frustrated with the car, frustrated with your mom (who keeps asking if you’re okay, when it’s obvious that not only are you NOT okay you’re also not exactly in the mood for twenty questions)

Call AAA, she says. And you do. Press 1 for Roadside Assistance; Press 1 again to file a new claim.

Hi, I think I need some assistance. My car won’t start because the key won’t turn.

(your *new* car, you think to yourself)

The operator runs through the same list of questions that mom asked, and you’ve tried them all. Then she asks if your steering wheel is locked. Why, yes…it is.

Try turning it, she tells you, while you turn the key.

Voila!

You thank her profusely. Then you call Mom, and tell her that you’re better. And you are. And you go home.

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So that was my excitement for the evening, and now it’s nearly 1 am. Goodnight, all. See you on Sunday!

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p.s. Go Red Sox!