<p>Any call that starts out ‘Mommy?’ is probably not going to be good news.</p>
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<p>Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.</p>
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It could. That happened to my husband’s nephew when he was a kid. He was running for the school bus and it was below freezing and his long hair (a mullet - shudder) was wet. He reached his hand up up to brush it down or something and a bunch of it snapped off. The funny thing is the bus driver was really upset and distraught over it.</p>
<p>Okay, parents, how’s this for a story?</p>
<p>A good friend of mine and I were driving from SSU home today (she lives in San Diego, so she had her father coming to pick her up at my house in Long Beach). We left SSU at maybe 2:30 PM after we finished all our RA responsibilities.</p>
<p>Of course, it was raining, but no big deal. We actually made great time.</p>
<p>At about 9:00, we’re just coming off the Grapevine on I-5 South (one of the biggest freeways in CA). I notice that my Speedometer seems to be broken (leaning on 0 when I’m clearly going at least 70mph). Luckily my GPS tells you how fast you’re going, so I think no problem, I’ll just tell mom and dad when we get home (we were only about an hour and a half from home at this point and we were both tired and just wanted to get home).</p>
<p>So a few minutes later, the speedometer goes wacky like it’s trying to work again, then the “CHECK ENGINE” light comes on. I have been driving this car up and down CA for the last 3 years, and for another 2 years before that, and this has never happened before–it’s always been a very reliable car with only problems that come from driving an 11-year-old car ('99 Chrysler).</p>
<p>I decide it’s time to call mom and dad at the same time that my cell phone rings–mom calling. (how do you guys do that??)</p>
<p>Tell mom what’s going on and mom puts dad on the phone. Repeat the problem. Dad says it should be fine, keep driving, don’t stop unless you have to. Of course, I’m a little freaked by this point (probably not helped by the fact that it’s not about 9:45, dark and rainy).</p>
<p>Few miles later, we hit a patch of traffic. Step on the brake. Car will not move forward, even when I move the accelerator to the floor. Luckily I was already on the far right side, and was able to get my momentum to carry my car to the shoulder.</p>
<p>Call mom and dad back, tell them “ok, car just broke down”. Mom says ok, it’ll be fine, call Triple-A, where are you? We’re about half an hour from home. Okay, dad’s on his way to come get you, stay in the car, lock doors, etc.</p>
<p>I give myself a few minutes to cry, then pull it together.</p>
<p>Call AAA, they’re very nice, someone will be there in 30 minutes.</p>
<p>45 minutes later, tow truck finally shows up, guy says he can’t tow it but will take us off the freeway. Call dad and sister and tell them, okay, tell us where you are when you get there. Takes us to some street off the freeway, gives us a business card, tells us to call in the morning and tell them where we want it towed (we can’t tow it tonight, we’re busy) and leave the keys on the floor of the car, they’ll get it later.</p>
<p>Ummm, no. How about you take the keys–I have a spare. Ok, sure. Leaves two 20-year-old girls sitting in a car in Burbank, CA at 11:00 at night.</p>
<p>After he left I realized that probably shouldn’t have happened, but it was too late by that point. Dad and sister arrive and bring us home. Friend’s dad calls AAA and tells a supervisor what happenrf, she apologizes, says the car will be here tonight.</p>
<p>30 minutes later, AAA calls back, the supervisor from AAA lodged a complaint with the tow company, are having the car taken off the street to an impound lot so it will be safe, trying to find another company to bring it to our house and will tow it to our chosen shop on Monday to get it looked at.</p>
<p>Longest day of my life, and I am SO glad to be home.</p>
<p>I had to call my mom last week to ask her how to get a sopping wet 5x7 area rug out of the bath tub without flooding my dorm.</p>
<p>We are 5000 miles away in a different country than D1, so we can’t call any 800 toll free numbers to the States. </p>
<p>My phone(s) rang (all three of them), I didn’t pick up as I was in a meeting. As soon as I finished my meeting, I saw an email from D1
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<p>This probably would have sent most parents over the edge, but it was my child…She had a flat tire and didn’t know what to do. I told her to call her boyfriend and put it on our card. I figure at some point some of those panic calls need to be re-directed to her significant other, otherwise what’s the point of having a BF.</p>
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<p>I wholeheartedly agree. They need to transfer their needy selves from Mom and Dad to Significant Other. That’s part of growing up!!</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, tango, but I would be VERY upset to think that my S was living in a dorm where fellow students were opportunistic thieves. What kind of community is that?</p>
<p>I always say my son needs a new gf so someone else can be his concierge for a while!</p>
<p>HisGraceFillsMe, so glad to read that you & your friend got home safely & SHAME on that tow company who did such a poor job of being sure that you reached some place of safety! Glad that the company was reported to AAA. We all have a lot to be thankful for!</p>
<p>OK… several phone calls in one day from D2 yesterday, who left school around noon to drive home, 770 miles away. H and I are in Hawaii right now, and she will join us on Monday, having to catch an early morning flight out of O’Hare.</p>
<p>Call 1: “Mom, I don’t know how I did this, but I got an hour and a half away from school and realized I forgot to pack one of my crates that has my external hard drive, all my music for my senior recital (which she is supposed to work on over the winter break), my script for the play I’m going to be in in April that I have to work on, etc. I have to turn around and go back.”</p>
<p>Call 2: “So I got back on the road after getting all my stuff, was just getting back into the mood of driving with the help of my music, and realized I was still on the turnpike. I completely missed the exit to I-80. Next exit wasn’t for ten miles, and as I made the exit and subsequent U-turn to get back on the turnpike, my coke spilled all over my lap and the car seat. I’m at a Wendy’s somewhere in the middle of nowhere trying to clean up the car seat, then I’ll have to go in and change my clothes.”</p>
<p>Call 3: Who the **** gives out speeding tickets for going 70 in a 60? (she’s less than two hours from home at this point, at about 1:30AM) I can’t believe it.<br>
Me: Sorry, you know you’re not going to get much sympathy from me for a speeding ticket. If you were speeding and were nabbed on the radar, then it’s only your fault.
D2: I knew I shouldn’t have called you (and hangs up).</p>
<p>Well, she knows whenever she arrives somewhere after driving a long distance, we expect her to let us know she arrived safely. So I’m staying up waiting for her text message that she’s gotten home OK. I don’t want to call her because I know she’s mad at me, but I don’t want to text her and distract her by reading it if she’s still on the road. So I hold off and hold off (trying to stay awake) and finally text her, saying, “Don’t respond to this message while driving, but text me when you get home.” Her reply, “I’m already home, I texted dad.” H had been asleep for almost two hours and his phone was in the other room, so neither one of us got that text when she first got home. UGH!!</p>
<p>Haven’t talked to her today yet. I suspect she’s still cranky!</p>
<p>teriwtt- you have adequate cause to be cranky, too!</p>
<p>ya think???</p>
<p>But I’m in Hawaii, and she isn’t, so I won’t rub it in.</p>
<p>HImom, yes, we’re both home safe(and I think I speak for both of us when I say that my bed has never felt so wonderful)…all of our parents were pretty upset when they realized the tow truck driver pretty much took advantage of two 20-year-old college students because “he was busy” and needed to get to another location.</p>
<p>As it turns out, there WAS a pretty major accident just behind us on the freeway, and even AAA said that they had trouble finding another tow company because everyone WAS so busy. Probably being the weekend before Christmas.</p>
<p>But yes, both of us are home safe, and the car is now sitting outside our house until tomorrow when we can have it towed and looked at.</p>
<p>Okay, here’s a good one… Youngest boarding his flight to head home yesterday… “I forgot my retainers.” hahaha Nice. We have no way to get them. I hope he can get them back in his mouth when he returns.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot, this was preceded by “Mom, Bart doesn’t start until 6:00 today. What do I do?” His flight took off at 6:30. I replied. “I don’t know. You’ll have to figure it out.” He ended up paying $50 for a taxi. Of course, this phone call was at 3:30 in the morning.</p>
<p>“Mom? I have the worst luck in the world.”
“Why, what happened?”
“I was stopped at a light and was rear ended by a hit and run driver. When he hit me, I hit the car in front. I got his plate number and I have a ton of witnesses. He is messing with the wrong guy!”</p>
<p>Important note: no one was hurt.
Also, it turns out that the police have more important things to do than track down hit and run drivers if no one is injured.</p>
<p>You may remember an earlier post on this thread regarding a call from the same DS who had just been in an accident (also not his fault, either) that totalled his car. Hence the “wost luck in the world.” We’ll talk about perspective sometime…</p>
<p>Text/Facebook messages
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<p>teriwtt - at least when you speak to D today, you can grumble that it’s pouring in paradise (not snow, but still not sunshine either). Glad things have worked out for you & D (once you both decide to start communicating again). </p>
<p>Geek_Mom, I’m going to assume that the two latter messages relate to gaming, otherwise, it sounds like it might be pretty scary!</p>
<p>HImom - was just at the gym of the hotel and they had TVs on, and sure enough, we started hearing about flash flood warnings in Honolulu. Good news is that we’re on the 14th floor! Every time I have to walk out in it (albeit, very briefly) I am amused at how much snow all this rain would translate into, and I’m very content to deal with rain!</p>
<p>teriwtt- I like your attitude!</p>