ON COMING AROUND

About a year ago, I was at the local mall, doing some shopping. I walked out to my car and was approached by a gentleman; it seemed his van needed a jump start. As my dad made sure our cars had jumper cables, I was more than willing to help the guy out. We talked and it turned out that the van was to provide transport for people with physical disabilities, which seems like a noble cause for a van to have.

Yesterday I was getting ready to drive to rehearsal. I had shoveled the giant pile of icy snow behind my car out into the parking lot, so I wasn't worried about that. What I DIDN'T count on was all of the snow and ice that had drifted and formed UNDER my car - directly under the tires. So that when I tried to back out of the spot, it didn't work at all. I spun the tires pretty severely.

Thinking quickly (I don't know which word is less accurate there), I took the paper mats that the brake guys had left in my car three weeks ago. I placed said paper mats under my front tires. No dice. Turns out paper offers surprisingly little by way of traction. Well, I know sand is often used in situations like this. I don't have any sand, but I do have several stale pretzel rods...let's try that. I mean, pretzels have salt on them, right? Turns out pretzels offers surprisingly little traction as well.

Eventually, some people came out of my building, and one guy offered to push my car while I gunned the ol' reverse gas. I told him to watch his pantlegs, as they would likely end up covered in crushed pretzel rod. He gave me a quizzical look, but we eventually got the car out of its spot. I drove off to dinner and rehearsal, a little embarrassed but glad to have moved my car.

I really believe that what goes around comes around. Had I not helped the guy in the mall parking lot a year ago, would things have worked out as well for me yesterday? Maybe...but I certainly FEEL a lot better now, like the universe owed me a debt and now it's been paid off.