I don’t know how I get myself in such a ridiculous situations, but I guess you could say I have a knack for it. What started out as a normal day, if there is such a thing in my life, turned out to be a nightmare. I was stranded at the office with no way to get home.

Morris and I usually carpool to work. He does the driving and I pay the parking. It all works out. But on this day Mo had to leave early for a doctor appointment. No big deal, I would just drive my own car.

However, my son had a problem. He had to take his truck downtown to get it worked on and needed a ride home. The truck had trouble starting, and as we all know, a vehicle that won’t start is no good to anyone.

Still not a problem, I could ride in with Mo and leave my car at home. My daughter could follow my son to the car dealership in my car and give him a ride back home. Then my son could pick me up after work, and I could drop him off at the dealership.

It was complicated, but it seemed workable.

About thirty minutes before the end of the day, I called home. So far the plan had gone smoothly, but the truck was not ready yet. What to do now? Daughter could drop son off and pick me up, but what if the truck had to stay until tomorrow?

She could pick me up and he could stay at home. But if the truck was finished, she would have to make two trips downtown in afternoon rush hour traffic.

By now I was getting lost in the variables. The clock was ticking, and I was at the office with no way to get home. This was not working out.

I had an idea. I’ll could call Mo at the doctor’s office and he could come get me. I called and called until he finally answered. Yes, he would come get me, but he had to go to the gas station first.

So, I waited. Fortunately, the office building stayed open late and I did not have to wait outside on the sidewalk.

The phone rang. Morris was calling to tell me he is here? Wrong! He was calling to tell me that he ran out of gas. The man has never run out of gas before in his entire life. But today, when I am stranded at the office, he was out of gas on the way to the gas station.

AAA would take forever, so my son would use my car to take him some gas and then Mo would come after me. He might be a little late … a little… he said.

Nothing is as much fun as sitting around the office after you have worked all day and are ready to go home.

Meanwhile, the car dealership called my son. The truck was ready, but my daughter couldn’t take my son to pick it up as he has the car. The two men decided that Mo would take my son to the dealership and then he would pick me up.

The phone rang again. It was Morris.

What? I have to wait until my son is done fooling with picking up his truck before he picks me up? “Since you are coming downtown, why don’t you just come get me?” We dropped my son off at the truck dealership and made it home in spite of rush hour traffic.

Somehow my daughter managed to avoid the entire mess. I think I met myself on the Interstate either coming or going, but I’m not sure if that was me or not. I might still be at the office.

Copyright 2011 Sheila Moss