15 September 1998
Yesterday, as I was sitting in my first training class with two other gals
who will also be part time teachers at Huntington
Learning Center, I heard a phone ring. It was picked up by an answering
machine.
"Hello," the caller said. "This is Barb Smith...I can't make it in tonight for the meeting. My car won't start. Sorry." Click.
When our instructor stepped out for a moment, I turned to my classmates. "Doesn't that just sound really tacky?" I asked.
"What?"
"Using that 'My car won't start' excuse! Like...yeah, it's SEPTEMBER. Your car won't start. It's just so flimsy!" The nodded and smiled at me.
After Oprah was over this morning, ("Facts of Life" has been canceled, dammit!) I ran around town doing errands, then came home to get ready for day two of training. It was rainy and foggy out, and as I ran to my car, I fantasized about the day I would live in a house and not have to deal with our apartment parking lot.
When I turned the key in my car, the radio came blasting on, the air conditioning came blasting on, and the engine...well...didn't.
I tried again. Turn key. Radio and air come on. Turn it further...nothing. The engine wasn't even grunting at me, or trying to turn over. Just silence.
Stomping and swearing through the rain, I headed back inside to call my new employer and tell them that I couldn't make it to work because MY CAR WOULDN'T START!!