One of my favorite all time movie/play lines is from Annie when the little girl always whines, saying, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" That's how I felt today! I went to my meeting in LaPorte - it was a great meeting. While there, I had a voice mail msg from the repair shop. The voice mail said, "Your car is ready."
So, I high-tailed it back to Goshen to pick up my awesome mini-van. I went first to the airport to return the rental - smooth sailing. They even invited me to their staff pitch-in. It would have been sooooo rude to not go (wink, wink) so I tried the desserts - homemade cobbler w/ fresh blueberries. Needless to say, it was great and the people were still so nice.
Then, I went to the repair shop. Seems that their interpretation of "Your car is ready" wasn't exactly MY interpretation of "ready". Their interpretation was that they had jiggled the starter enough to get it running ... as long as I didn't stop between Goshen and my destination (3 hours away), I'd be "just fine!".
I immediately panicked because I needed gas and, as I told the men in the repair shop, Mr. Allen told me in Driver's Ed that I should never pump gas with the car running. I trust everything ol' Mr. Allen advised - he was also my ag teacher for heaven's sake and we had many great life-lesson discussions (such as don't pump gas w/ the car running!)!
So, on a wing and a prayer, I went to the yucky restroom in the repair shop so I wouldn't have to stop and headed home. I made it to Indy on my gas fumes and did pump gas w/ the car running in Fishers. Just as they closed, I pulled into the dealership (Butler Kia) where my warranty was applicable. Initially faced w/ bad news that I was too late (from the staff who were literally packing bags to go home on a Friday eve), I burst into tears sobbing that I'd missed my son's first haircut (sorry, Lukey), had been traveling for nearly 6 hours, was told I'd be helped if I got there by 6, I didn't even know how to get the car seats out, and on and on and on. Then, in walks a miracle worker of customer service ... she stayed late and hooked me up w/ a rental, switched my car to their best technician, gave me a pop, helped me unhook AND reconnect the car seats, showed me how to work the radio/gadgets in the loaner, listened to my drama and gave me a hug. Two days later, I was back in my normal car and this time the car really was working.
WHEW ... I share all of this b/c I learned a few good lessons that I'm going to carry w/ me:
- I want to be like all of the people who were "aware" that I needed help and not afraid (or to busy w/ texting or emailing) to do so. No one hesitated - and no one was compensated for their offer to help. They just did it and not one of them made me feel as if I were inconveniencing them.
- Help can be many things ... for me this week, it came in the form of a Klondike bar, a pitch-in invite, a facilities mgr buying something at the hotel candy machine, small talk to put me at ease, a smile and an offer for sharing a little bit of shade. We can all do one of those, can't we?!
- Good people - angels, even - are all around us. They don't have fancy titles. They probably don't read the WSJ. They may not vote the right way (ha). But, they are all around us ... and now I finally know, these good people are who I want to be when I "grow up".
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