No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to come to the airport with her family. They pick me up, we drop them off, I take their car and keep it at my place for the few weeks they are out of town. It was easy peasy. I found the one area where there is no street sweeping parking restrictions. I parked it and pretty much just checked on it when I went out to my car.

Tonight was the night I was supposed to pick them up from the airport. Between sitting on the street for two weeks and its normal three young male passengers...it was a mess. So, Mario took the van down to his favorite car wash for a quick wash and vacuum. It looked great. I was pretty excited to pick them up, see my boys real quick and send them home with a clean van.

The timing was perfect. I pulled up as they finished picking up all their luggage. Nick came out to start loading up the luggage. I left the car running and hopped out to help. As I rounded the back he asked me to unlock the back hatch. I turned around headed back to the drivers door and my heart sank...I had locked us out of the car with it running!!!

I felt awful! 11 o'clock at night, two exhausted adults, and three crying exhausted boys! What a jerk! Nick immediately decided he should just break a window...driving home with a broken window and three crying boys sounded even worse! Luckily Mario was following right behind me and could call AAA for a locksmith. I didn't want to hear the crap I would get from Mario...although nothing could beat the guilt I was feeling for my friends who had just spent 5 hours on a plane, dealing with three boys far past their bedtime. They now had to wait for a locksmith and then drive an hour home! Jerk isn't a strong enough name for me!

I stood there looking down and kicking the curb, wondering how long it would take to get this car unlocked. I had lost Mario before we even got on the freeway, when I ran through a yellow light and he was now no where in site! I looked up to see my best friend staring at me through the window and I just shook my head. She smiled...not what I was expecting. Why was she smiling? Well, because Katie is a super mom and had packed a spare key in their luggage! Woo hoo! Until Nick broke my hopes by telling me it was the key to their other van! This was an emotional roller coaster! And Mario still wasn't there to call AAA.

Luckily Nick was wrong and she did have the spare key to the van! Mario pulled up just as we unlocked the can. Car unlocked, luggage thrown in, 2.5 crying kids seat-belted in, and four adults happy to be heading home!

I still can't figure out how I locked the car. Most cars now a days have a security feature that makes the car unable to lock, if the car is running and there is no one in the drivers seat. My oldish car does at least, and I think it's the bestest feature ever! I got out of the car, but I never hit any of the lock buttons. I just hopped out and ran back! I specifically didn't hit any buttons. I personally think the door can be opened without unlocking it...which means I didn't unlock it in the first place.  Either way...dip shit move!

I got a text from Katie as we all drove away saying she owed me for picking them up, washing the car, and putting gas in the car...I told her I took it down a notch and a half with the locking us out stunt. I thought it was the stupidest thing I've done in a long time. Being a great best friend, she made sure to remind me of her top two favorite dip shit things I've done. First, was somehow tying my feet together with my sister's purse straps, trying to exit the car and flinging myself face first into the pavement on our first day of vacation and injuring myself pretty good. Second, was on our last day of a cruise we were on. Flip flops + freshly swabbed deck = me slipping and falling two or three times. It was like one of those cartoons where they are slipping on oil and can't stand up...this was me in front of a crap load of other passengers.

True, these were two stellar dip shit moves. However, neither were exactly my fault. They mostly played off of my ability to be a clutz. Locking us out of the car was definitely my fault! At least it worked out in the end but still. Karma sure knows how to put a girl in her place!