Friday, December 18, 2009

The magic car key is fickle.

Nothing went smoothly last Tuesday. I was supposed to be at school at 11:30 for my environmental science final. My car's been making horrible squealing noises when driving slowly, so I didn't want to risk driving it to school. My mom said I could take her car and she would take my dad's truck (my dad had driven to work in his other car). I was running late, so I grabbed the keys off the table and drove my mom's station wagon to school. After I parked on the street, I realized that I'd parked a bit far from the curb. It was ten minutes to 11:30, but I didn't want to get a ticket, so I got back in the car so I could move it. When I tried to put the keys in again, they didn't fit. I struggled with them for a minute before I looked at them closely. Why does her Saturn key have a Dodge logo on it? I realized that it was the key to my dad's truck! Somehow it had worked to get me to school, but they wouldn't work again. I called my mom on my cellphone and said, "I don't know how I got here- it's a miracle, I'm at school and I used Dad's car key to drive your car." She was as amazed as I was, and pissed off because she had to be at a meeting at 12:30. We figured out a way to swap keys, I left Dad's key under the mat, and left the driver's door unlocked. She called our friend Kristin who lives a block away. Just one week earlier, Kristin had come to the rescue when it was storming like a bitch, I had a meeting with my teacher, and my car wouldn't start. I'm so grateful to her. Anyway, Kristin drove my mom to her meeting and they switched the key under the mat with the correct one. I speed-walked to my class, where the final was supposed to start in five minutes. When I got to my class, out of breath and cramping, I was one of only three people there. Needless to say, we were all confused. One of the guys tried to call the teacher, but he didn't answer. We sat there for an hour, thinking the final might have been rescheduled for the normal class time an hour later. We quizzed each other, but it was hard to focus when we were worrying about what the hell was going on. Sometimes they have finals in different rooms than usual, but I've never experienced that. It seemed unlikely, anyway, because the usual room was clearly available. I talked to the other guys and asked if they were late to class last Thursday. They were, and I must have been too, though I don't remember. If the teacher had made an announcement that the final was rescheduled, it must have been in the first five minutes of class Thursday, because Tuesday, the plans were still the same. So, I went home, and just as I walked in the door, I got a message on my phone from one of the guys who had been in the class. He said that the teacher had changed the final to Thursday. Fucking lame that he hadn't written it on the board or repeated the announcement at the end of class. Oh well, at least I had more time to study.

1 comment:

  1. i would love to follow your blogs. what kinds are they, i'm assuming this is your personal blog, what about discarded thoughts? well i cant wait to read! i have to get ready for work and get some breakfast.

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