Recently something that happened to me that I never want to experience again in my life – my car got towed. It was horrible. Besides the fact that it is expensive and inconvenient, there is something about getting your car towed that makes you feel vulnerable. Someone just takes one of the most expensive possessions you own away from you and leaves you stranded no matter where, no matter what time of day, regardless of if you have someone with you, with no concern as to whether you are safe or have your cell phone on you. It is an awful feeling to say the least. Thankfully for me (I guess I can find a few things to be thankful about in this situation…), my car was towed from ASU’s campus, it was the middle of the day, and I did have my phone on me.
So here’s the deal. I have a problem of being late to school. Not late so much as lacking enough time to get from my parking spot on the far northeast corner of campus to my class on the far southwest corner of campus. We are talking a 20+ minute walk here. So if I don’t arrive to school at least twenty minutes early, I will be late to class. To avoid it, I often end up parking close to class and paying at a meter. Let’s just say I have spent quite a few extra dollars in quarters in addtion to the stupid $400+ I spent on a parking pass. At least they let me go to school for free… because I will be giving them thousands in parking money by the time this degree is finished.
Anyway, this particular day was the last day of class for the semester, which is usually a very happy day until SWAT towing gets involved. I was late as usual, but I knew class would be UBER short. We basically just had to fill out our evaluations and go. I looked for one of my usual meter spots, but apparently EVERYONE decided to attend their classes on the last day and there were no open spots to be found. Knowing I would be inside for such a short time I thought “I know! I will just park in this spot at Chili’s, run to class, fill out my evaluation, order Chili’s for lunch and come back over and pick it up.” I thought I was a genius – getting to class on time AND grabbing delish enchilada soup for lunch on my way to work – until I walked back over to Chili’s thirty minutes later and my car was gone. Here I was – semester completed, enchilada soup in hand, and no Mazda 3 anywhere. Those jerks. I called the towing company crying and told them I was a paying customer, holding a bag full of Chili’s food at that very moment! They curtly infomred me that even if I leave the premises for a minute, my car can be towed. Awesome. They didn’t actually know if my car was on its way to their impound yard, because their scanner was down, but they kindly informed me that it probably was since they “tow cars from the ASU Chili’s ALL the time.” And apparently I missed reading this little sign (okay, it’s a pretty big sign but it was definitely on the other side of the building, a good forty yards away from where I parked)…
At this point I had a little breakdown, not because my car was gone or I felt unsafe or anything, but because I had a moment of loneliness. I called Micah who was at work and he didn’t answer. I knew the chances of him being able to leave work to get me were slim anyway. Then I sat down on the curb and felt sorry for myself. If I had been in Seattle or Fort Worth I would have been able to think of a zillion friends or family members to call and pick me up (or at least ten), but here I was in Phoenix and I felt like I had nobody. I mean we have been meeting people and all that, but I sat there and thought, “Who do I know well enough that could come pick me up right now?” I pictured myself sitting at ASU all day long.
However, I called the coffee shop where I work (owned and operated by our church – it’s awesome) to tell them I would be late to work if I even got there at all and within minutes my pastor’s wife, Lisa, was calling me. “Hi. Heard you are having a bad day. I’m coming to get you.” What an amazing woman. Within twenty minutes, Lisa was pulling up in front of Chili’s, taking me to good ol’ SWAT and teaching me how to evade camera speeding tickets on the way there (not that she was actually speeding – she was just telling me funny stories to cheer me up). SWAT was so shady/amazing (people behind tinted glass that you can’t even see as you hand $135 to them for babysitting your car for one hour) that Lisa and I considered going into business. We figured we have much better phone personalities than the rude woman who answered the phone when I called (We’re thinking something like… “Hello! It will be $135 to retrieve your car. Please don’t forget cash. See you soon! Hopefully…or the price will increase $25 per hour. Bye!), and our husbands could drive the truck around together.
Within an hour, I was driving away in Cori the Mazda after thanking my sweet friend Lisa. I realized that God really is blessing us with amazing new friends in Phoenix, and I have an awful shoe polish tag from the towing company on my windshield to keep reminding me of God’s goodness day after day…at least until I figure out how to wash it off.
