So we saw the movie “the curious case of Benjamin Button” the other day, it’s about this man who grows from old to young. (They make him look like a really old and ugly baby!)
It was a good movie and there was this one scene in it where they reviewed how an accident happened. This woman was hit by a car. All because a woman was running late for work because she had to stop and get something but the girl who worked there wasn’t there cuz her boyfriend broke up with her the night before and the woman going to work went to catch a taxi, and the taxi was a few minutes behind because he stopped to get some coffee and a truck pulled out in front of them which slowed them down and then the taxi driver wasn’t paying attention and hit this woman (something to that effect) Basically saying that all the little things lined up just right for this accident to happen and had one little thing been different, it wouldn’t have happened. This scene has been on my mind this weekend as we have had our own little series of unfortunate events.
It began on Friday. Nick lost his military ID while we were at the hospital in Bethesda for my appointment. Then Saturday night, we were running some errands and Nick really wanted to trade in one of his Xbox games for a different one. But we couldn’t find parking at the mall, so I said I wanted to go home and he could get it later. So, later that night Nick decided it was time to go get that game. (Men have such one track minds…he can’t stop thinking about something until he gets it.) So he goes to get his game. When he comes back on base, he has to show his ID. As he’s pulling up the guard working, gets off work and the new one comes on. He shows his civilian ID, having lost his military ID. If you don’t have a military ID they always want to see your car registration as well. (They hadn’t checked this before b/c I was with him so my military ID got us on base no problem). It just so happens that the registration for the car is in my purse, because I’m trying to work out which state I’m supposed to register in (and no one seems to know, so there is quite a lapse of time in our registration…Nick having encouraged me to wait and wait and wait, why did I listen?). This particular guard was not as nice as most and decided she should call the MP’s (military police). So the MP shows up and looks up our registration, realizes it is expired and decides to go on a power trip. He handcuffs my husband, throws him in the back of the cop car very rudely and calls a tow company to take our car away. Nick did nothing to provoke him and explained to him that we were trying to figure out where to register the car. So Nick calls me from a jail cell needing a ride…but the only car we have has been towed. I pick him and our lovely fine from the oh so kind MP up and we call the tow company. They are not open until Monday. So today (Monday) I had a week long class that was starting that I wanted to take and I had to be there at 8 am. We decide we’ll pick the car up on lunch break. So Nick calls in the morning to renew the registration over the phone…they won’t let him. He comes to get me and says we can’t renew the registration over the phone because my credit card has my married name and the car is in my maiden name. So I call them and they let me. (But we’ve lost 15 mins of my lunch break doing this). We run to the tow yard. It is in the scariest part of town and is a complete HOLE. I was scared our GPS would no longer be there, and of course they put up the nice little sign about how they are not responsible for damage or theft. Come to find out though, they don’t take cash. SO we have to run to an ATM, get some cash and go back…pay WAY too much for the car that shouldn’t have been towed in the first place. I was an hour late getting back to my class.
What a wonderful day! Any little thing could have gone differently in the beginning and it wouldn’t have turned out so badly. Nick talked to a different MP today and he said that he would not have towed our car…he thought it was ridiculous. Had Nick not lost his military ID, had there been parking at the mall, had I just not worried about where to register the car and just got it done, it could have been different. Everything lined up just right and mixed in with a little of our own stupidity and we’re out a decent chunk of change that we could have gone on a nice vacation with. AUGH.
Does anybody else ever feel like nothing works out quite right for them? I don’t mean to complain, but I feel like that is the story of my life these days! I’m trying to be positive!!! It’s just not working too well.
Sorry so wordy…had to vent.
