29 | 196 A Comedy of Errors

Today turned out to be a comedy of errors. 

The Plan:
Pick up a rental car; drive to Plant City to meet friends at the Strawberry Festival by 11:00 a.m.; check out the Brandon Honda dealership in the late afternoon, where we had it on good authority that there might be a Honda Pilot in our price range; eat at my all-time favorite pizza restaurant, Babe's; drive home tired and happy. 

How It Went:
On our way to pick up the rental car, we happened across a recent car accident which had scattered serious debris across the roadway. Unable to come to a complete stop before running over said debris, the back driver's-side tire of our car was ripped to shreds and immediately went flat, leaving us in the middle of a three-lane roadway during rush-hour traffic. We took the kids out of the car and put them on the sidewalk and Josh pulled into the nearest driveway off the main road. It was someone's fancy private residence complete with lampposts lining the driveway and Greek statues adorning the palm-dotted lawn. 

Meanwhile, I have to go to the bathroom.

It turns out our vehicle did not have the proper tools inside to change the tire, so I call Enterprise to come pick me and the kids up so we could go get the rental. Joshua walks over to the accident scene that caused our flat, hoping for some sort of assistance from the policemen working the scene or perhaps some tools to work with. The officer is rude and dismissive. Joshua calls a towing company to tow the car home, where he has the proper tools to put on the spare. Joshua is harangued on the phone by the tow truck company owner about not having a tire iron or wrench. The home owner whose single-lane driveway we are blocking makes an appearance via the garage on his bicycle, headed to Anytime Fitness for a workout, he informs us. He did not seem to mind the intrusion on his private property, but didn't think to ask how he could help, which would've been nice since all Josh needed was a ratchet.

The Enterprise guy arrives over an hour later to take me and the kids to the rental agency to get our car. Aidan has a dirty diaper in the back seat and is talking to Mr. Don (the driver) incessantly about our "fat tire." Enterprise is slammed with too few employees in the office. I wait a half hour with the kids before it's our turn at the counter. Meanwhile, the tow company arrives back where our car is broken down but the driver is very overweight and unable to assist Joshua. Joshua helps himself to the driver's tools and changes the tire. However, now the tow truck will not start, and our car is blocked in the driveway, even though the tire is now changed. 

Eventually, I rendezvous with Joshua and I finally get to a bathroom. Thank God. 

We stopped by Chick-fil-A for lunch on our way out of town, where they forgot to give us Aidan's kids meal until I reminded them right before leaving the drive-thru. Five minutes down the road we realize they also shorted us an order of fries. Joshua and I valiantly share one order of fries. This is a sacrifice on both our parts. 

We make it to Plant City, but while following the signs directing us to the festival grounds, the road is cordoned off by police officers and we have to find an alternate route. We arrive at the Strawberry Festival six hours after leaving the house that morning. 

After two hours at the festival, we leave to get to the Honda dealership for a 5:30 appointment that Joshua made with a salesman. On the way there we are starving and I spot a Steak n' Shake, so I cut across three lanes of traffic to turn into the drive-thru for a milkshake. The drive-thru has a large cone in the middle of the lane, indicating it is out of order.

Joshua had confirmed his appointment with a specific person at the Honda dealership on the way over to Brandon earlier that day. When we arrived at the dealership, Joshua is informed that the person he spoke with isn't even working today. Also, there are no Pilots in our price range, despite a previous phone conversation that led to today's appointment. 

We drive back to Babe's for dinner. When we arrive the sign on the door says -- you guessed it-- Closed Mondays. 

Like I said, comedy of errors. Probably enough to have put us in a bad mood. But instead, I am happy to report: 

We weren't in an accident where any of us got hurt. There was no major damage sustained to the vehicle, other than the blown tire. There was a sidewalk along that busy roadway, so we were able to get our kids out of the vehicle and safely out of the way. The morning wasn't too hot, so it was not uncomfortable to be waiting outside for two hours. We had plenty of snacks prepared for the day, and more than enough bottled water. I took the opportunity to pray with Aidan, asking God to send the rental car quickly when it had been 45 minutes since they were supposed to arrive -- it arrived within five minutes. Enterprise let us rent the car that Mr. Don picked us up in, so I did not have to re-install car seats in a busy shopping center parking lot off U.S. 19 while trying to wrangle a very active and car-loving toddler. The tow truck driver did not charge Joshua for the use of his tools. Thankfully, the driver was able to move his truck to the side of the driveway so that Joshua could leave. It was a stunningly gorgeous day for a car ride. Our rental car had a USB port that let us use our iPhones to listen to our music and my This American Life app so we could listen to amusing stories, and it had a really great air conditioner. The Kennedys were still at the Strawberry Festival when we got there and we spent two hours together letting Aidan and Daisy have a ton of fun, riding kiddie rides together and getting their faces painted and jumping up and down and giving lots of hugs. We had plenty of bottled water with us for the heat of the day and sunscreen to keep the kids from getting burnt. We got a half-flat of fresh strawberries from Parksdale Farms for less than $5.00 -- can you say strawberry shortcake? I got the cutest photos of Aidan and Maddie eating strawberries. We prayed before we got to the Honda dealership that if this wasn't where God had a vehicle for us, Joshua wouldn't waste a lot of time there. He was back at the car within ten minutes. We were able to try a new restaurant for dinner. The Kennedys joined us, and instead of doing a magic act to cram into one booth at Babe's, we had the luxury of a giant corner booth and a kid-friendly restaurant that brought the kids dough to play with, and we got to enjoy an hour and a half sharing a meal with our friends. We drove home tired and happy. 

First-world problems, right? Yes, but they're are still bothersome when you live in a first-world scenario. However, today we were really determined not to let irritation get the best of us. It's so easy to get sucked into spiraling negativity. Recently, we watched the pilot of Parks and Rec on Netflix and there's this scene where Leslie gets a phone call from an irate citizen about her park building project, who says, "Hey Park Lady, blah, blah, blah, terribly insulting stuff, blah, blah, blah..." Leslie hangs up the phone and looks at the camera and says with a smile, "Did you hear that? He just called me Park Lady!" Josh and I love that scene because it is such a ridiculously determined bent toward the positive in a blatantly negative situation. I think it's a great paradigm to operate in. Why not?