I'd already had enough of this morning.
Thankfully I was almost home after running errands. Just one last stop to fill the car up with gas - a must stop since the low fuel light was flashing and the low fuel alarm was beeping. Beeping against my last nerve. Side thought: How did I manage to avoid running out of gas before Chevy decided that would be impossible to avoid without an alarm system? I filled up the car with gas. Got back in. The car wouldn't start. Nothing but a clicking noise. The low fuel alarm suddenly sounded like a Christmas carol compared to that clicking. I kept turning the key, thinking if I just turned it enough times the clicking would stop. Magically. Without calling a tow truck and pouring out my life savings to make it stop. Suddenly, a young kid - early 20s maybe - is standing beside my driver's side door. He had a mask on, but I could hear him ask, do you need a jump? Yes - thank you. Put your car in neutral, he ordered. Then he pushed my car to the back of the parking lot. Because young kids are strong enough to do that without needing back surgery. I sat there while he went to get his car. Then he rolls up with one of those fancy young kid sports cars. Jacked up. Music blaring - and not Christmas carols. He connects the jumper cables. My car fires right up. I thanked him. He said no need - I could feel your pain. A young kid - saying I could feel your pain. I drove to Auto Zone to get a new battery. The middle aged woman behind the counter looked like she'd had enough of the morning too and wasn't in much mood for my battery problems. Still, she bundled up and came outside and lifted my hood and diagnosed I did indeed have a bad battery. She brought me a new one. We quickly discovered, though, that at the same time Chevy was making sure everyone in the neighborhood knows when I'm out of gas, they developed a battery casing that would prohibit anyone in the world from ever getting that battery out of there. So this middle aged woman and me - both of us no longer interested in my battery problem - we stood there in that parking lot and did what young kids do in these situations. We watched a YouTube video. Then she looked at me and said, I've got this. And she did. As I was getting ready to drive away she told me to make sure I leave my car running for 20 minutes or so, to let my car get used to the battery. Car and battery have to get to know one another, I guess?❤ I listened to her. When I got back home I sat and let the car run for a bit. And I thought, as over as I was with this morning, I'm glad the morning wasn't done with me. Because the morning reminded me there are a lot of really good people in this world. And man, we really are at our best when we feel each other's pain. When we shake off the cold and watch YouTube videos together in a parking lot to figure out how to best help one another. 2020 hasn't robbed us of everything. It just hasn't.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
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