There are some days when it truly feels at though I have some sort of mental defect or something...yesterday the dumb shit things I did served to reiterate that, although I was able in small part to recover from it and not make a total moron of myself for the ENTIRE day. Although I know I am not a drooling idiot, it is times like those that really make me pause and shake my head in bewilderment...what in the heck is wrong with me when stuff like that happens?Well, in my inimitable way, I have carried the practice of deficient thinking into today...in a rush and thinking forty steps ahead of myself as I readied to go into the office this morning, I dutifully opened and then set the lock on the driver door, intending to secure the contents of the car that were not mine (and valuable) until I could remove them later in the day. Part of that thought process was to put all my handheld devices and keys in my purse, and reach across to unlock the passenger door, then go around to the passenger side, gather my laptop bag and purse, lock and close the door and then go on my merry way into the office. I have already adapted my strategy on how I keep track of my security card for the office...it is on a lanyard that I wear around my neck with one of the iPods attached...so in principal, it seems that all was accounted for. Unfortunately, that is exactly where the “moron factor” kicked in...as I slammed the driver door, I noted with self-loathing that the passenger door was, in fact, still locked...everything sealed up nice and tight too...not even a cracked window to try to use to get myself back inside.
For a moment only I panicked; surely this was a disaster of gargantuan proportions...then I realized that I had my key card for the office... “No worries” I thought; I can get into the office, to my phone and get in contact with the firstborn, who could get me a spare key. Feeling dumb, but not frantic, I went upstairs to the office and went to my desk to make the call.
The home phone rang and rang…no firstborn OR his Ann to answer it... “No worries” I again thought; they are probably out to breakfast...just have to give them a call on their cell phones. Then, it truly hit me how cut off I was without my technology...I don’t even know the numbers of any of our cell phones...when we got them I stored all the numbers on MY phone for quick dialing...I had no way to figure out their numbers...my laptop was in the car…no Outlook address book with my personal contacts in it…no Blackberry for saved information from incoming calls...I absolutely felt that at that moment I was totally stymied. My gadgets gone, I felt as though my hands had been cut off...all I could do was try to work without my tools and sit at my desk phone and listen to the phone at my house ring itself off the hook.
By some miracle (and the grace of very noisy trash collectors), the firstborn finally answered the phone at a little after 9 AM…by this time I had called the young one’s school to try to get him to give me his brother’s cell number, the firstborn’s AND Ann’s stores that they work in to see if their numbers were on file (they were, but the employees I spoke with followed company policy and would not release them to me – excellent to know!) and one of my co-workers had shared with me that he might be able to “help me out”, should other methods fail. The firstborn was groggy when I first got him on the line, and also shared that his brother had already called home to see what was going on (so thanks to the people in the attendance office he HAD gotten my message) After a minute to take the whole situation in, he could do nothing other than laugh at me and assure that he would be out to the office with an extra key….thank goodness for extra keys!
Nearly 10 by the time the firstborn arrived with the key to let me into my car…for his sacrifice, I gave him bucks to buy some gas and breakfast...the least I could do, considering I would have probably ended up with a broken window if he has not been able to bring me a key. When all was said and done, I was embarrassed but otherwise unscathed...and of course, had succeeded in proudly maintaining the reputation of blondes everywhere with yet another “dumb blonde” stunt.
After all this, one of my co-workers, who is relatively new to the company, passed by my desk and asked me how I was doing...in my usual fashion, I regaled her with the gory details of the morning to that point, never one to pass up the telling of a good story, after all. She commiserated with my plight and recounted several of her own, a friendly gesture that only served to cement our friendship even more. Later she came to stand at my shoulder and leaned close to my ear... “Talk about moments”, she said...”I just had one...took a spill in the lobby”. Shocked, I turned to face her, just as she was beginning to walk away... “Are you alright?” I asked with concern. She paused for a beat and said in a low voice and with a hint of a smile, “All but the pride”...Indeed...I can TOTALLY relate...
Hope your day was well, and in our little challenges you found a little smile; I know that in retrospect, I certainly have.
Much love to you...
v
