We were set up to have a great day… happy children, a playdate with friends, trains and pizza. Should have been fabulous. Was almost fabulous…
The plan was to meet my friend and her two children at the Imaginon Library. My boys LOVE trains, so what better than to ride the Lynx train into downtown and avoid having to pay for parking? We left our car at the Scaleybark Station and promptly boarded the train. Only four bucks round trip since kids under five are free. Cool, huh?
The boys are delighted on the train ride into town and we get off at the 7th Street Station stop and head to the library. The kids loved the library and playing throughout various exhibits. After they got their fill, we walked to Brixx where my husband met up with us lunch, then strolled over to the 7th Street Public Market for TastyYo frozen yogurt deliciousness.
We took lots of pictures. I checked in a lot on foursquare. My phone died.
Around 1:30-ish, Will looked about to expire so we boarded the train and I got off at my stop, several stops before my friend’s stop. I parked the stroller next to the car, scrounged in my purse for my keys, then started to panic. Where the heck were my keys? I searched the stroller, the kids’ backpacks, emptied my purse.
Will starts to cry, my feet are starting to hurt in my heels, and then I look in the car window. My keys are locked in the car. Doh! I reach for my cell to call someone to help. My phone is dead. Double-doh!. Both my kids began to cry. (Insert curse word.) I quell the panic that begins to rise within. I look up and down the parking lot. There aren’t many people, but I casually walk up to a few strangers with my crying kid in the stroller and my worried four-year-old grasping my hand. ”Mind if I borrow your cell phone to call my husband?” I begged. ”I locked my keys in the car and my phone died.”
In the ten minutes it took me to wait around for four or five people to walk through the parking lot NOT ONE person would let me use the phone. I got told to go to a store and call the police, several said they didn’t have a phone on them, and two people said their phone was dead. Really? I call bull.
Why would you NOT let a nicely dressed woman with two young children in the middle of the day use your cell phone for a quick call? Did you think I was gonna run off with it pushing the stroller along with me? Did you think I was gonna beat you with my scrawny arms and take a few bucks too? Come on.
I scanned my surroundings and noticed a car repair shop across the busy street. We hauled over there and I told my story. I was told to wait inside until the owner came back and maybe he could help me. I had no other choice, so the three of us waited. About ten minutes later, the owner returned. He seemed unconvinced that he would be able to help me, but told me he’d give it a go after he was done eating his lunch. Alrighty…
After a few minutes of listening to my toddler whine, he gave up on his lunch and he and another dude from the shop got all of the car-busting-into gear and attempted to break into my car. About 20 minutes later, we managed to set off the alarm, but not get in. Will, the youngest and the most tired, was NOT impressed with their skills. I offered to pay them for their time and they politely refused. Kind Deed #1 of the day.
Kind Deed #2 occurred when a young guy came up and asked if I needed some help. I asked if I could use his phone, and he said… SURE! Whah? A normal, nice person! I called my husband, who said he couldn’t leave work, but that I could meet him back downtown and he could give me his spare key to our car. So… we re-boarded the train, went back downtown, got more ice cream (I think we all deserved it), and then finally made it back to the car.
Mother Nature sent me Kind Deed #3; As soon as we drove out of the parking lot the skies opened up and it started to pour. Yeah, that definitely would’ve been worse.
My lessons?
#1 – ALWAYS LOCK MY CAR WITH THE KEYS
#2 – Peeps need to start charging their cell phones
#3 – A 2003 Toyota Highlander is apparently challenging to break into. Go figure.
#4- If someone ever asks me for a small favor, I’ll consider their plight, and help if I can.
#5 – Human kind is generally kind. A few people aren't so nice. Especially strangers at the Scaleybark Station.
#6 – The Blueberry pushpops from the TastyYo at Seventh Street Public Market are really, really good.
