By Beth
I don't have much experience with horses. I used to be afraid of them, probably because I was trampled by one at a cousin's house when I was young. Well, not really completely trampled, but the horse ran me over, and it hurt, and I got a soda to help me feel better, which a bee flew into that nearly stung my lip. (I love my lips!!) I may have been 8, no older. But while most girls around that age and slightly older dream of horses and obsess over them, I was more interested in, um, OTHER things. I was...am not a typical girl in so many ways!
So the only horse race experience I have is from the movies. The one I remember best is from My Fair Lady, I like it when she yells during the race, that would so be me! I skip over the horse race channel although I do like watching the horses when they're doing the obstacle course thing, but not for long. I don't really get the draw of horse racing. At least it's faster than NASCAR, I don't get that either. "They're making a left turn! They're making another left turn! They're making another left turn! I wonder what's gonna happen next? Come back in 3 hours, you won't have missed a thing!"
Nevertheless, going to a horse race somehow ended up on the list. At the very least we could people-watch, one of our favorite sports. I'm willing to try anything once. So we chose a weekend when not only we (Lara and I) were free and there was a race at Ocean Pines, but one when two of our other friends were free as well and we could use Kate's beach house. We were set!
Fate had other plans though. As the date drew closer it became apparent that we were not meant to see this particular race. I discovered that the only way I could go would be to bring my 9 year old son with me. Kate and Lara OK'd this and my son was psyched. He loves Kate, he loves Lara too but Kate's newer to the scene and you know how kids are with new things. He also loves Jeeps and was really looking forward to being able to ride in Kate's Jeep on the beach. I was set!
Then Lara became incapacitated. She still planned to come as of a few days before the trip but as the hours passed and she was still in a lot of pain, she had to cancel. Kate was already there waiting for all of us. Our other friend had some personal things going on and had to cancel as well. So it was down to me. Obviously the horse race was out completely. I went back and forth for a while as to whether or not to go. I don't know Kate as well as I know Lara and we've never hung out without Lara there. Silly of me really, but I was a little nervous about the whole thing. In the end I decided to go, even though I don't know Kate as well as Lara, I figured we didn't need a buffer anymore! I packed myself and my son, and once I got off work Friday night we went to the bank for $60 ("just in case"- I hardly ever have more than $10 cash on me when I travel) and hit the road.
We didn't get far. A few miles over the Delaware line I made a wrong turn. Not surprising really. I turned around in a KFC parking lot which had lights on and plenty of people about. My son was reading Harry Potter in the backseat. I re-checked my directions, got back on the road and this time, saw the turn I was supposed to make but missed it again. I turned around again in a well-lit, well populated parking lot. Ben continued to read, oblivious to what was going on around him. The third time I saw the turn, made the turn and then heard a noise to drive fear into my heart. It's a noise I worry about hearing whenever I go on long trips. The sound of a flat tire. I was able to make it to the side of the road and into a parking lot. An abandoned parking lot, with no one around. If I screamed, no one would have heard me. Ben continued to read in the backseat.
I checked the tire, flat as a pancake. I don't have AAA, so I called the next best thing. Mom. It is important to know that I did not panic, or get mad, or cry during this whole fiasco. This is a big step for me. My mother could tell you stories of me on the phone (pay phone, this was before cell phones) in the middle of nowhere, crying my eyes out because I was lost. Mom said to call 911, tell them it was a roadside emergency, the police would come and he'd be able to call a tow truck. So I did. This was my first experience actually calling 911. I've had dreams that I've done it but I never get past the first 1. I think that's my subconscious keeping me from really dialing it in my sleep, my cell phone sits on the bed next to me.
So the 911 operator was very nice. As per my MapQuest directions I was able to tell her exactly where I was and she dispatched a police car. I sent Kate a text, and mom and Lara telling them what was going on. My son continued to read in the backseat. At one point a rather sketchy looking man came walking by. My son would be no help if it came to a fight, he's lost at Hogwarts. I grabbed an umbrella from my trunk and set out to defend myself and my son. Luckily it didn't come to that. He passed by muttering to himself, clutching a paper bag.
The cop arrived soon thereafter. He was dreamy. Probably thought I was nuts. While he was there I took a picture of the flat tire. For posterity. Ben continued to read in the backseat. I don't think the cop even knew he was there. Officer McHottie called the tow truck. He wasn't so dreamy. There was a problem getting my hubcap off. Apparently my hubcaps need to be taken off with a key. I don't have this key. The tow truck man took it rather personally that he could not get the hubcap off. Kept saying he'd never seen anything like this before. Jokes were made about those hubcaps putting my kids through college. He eventually figured out a way to get the hubcap off, a little bent, but off. Officer Cutie-Pie provided the light for the job. Tow truck man put the donut on, (which I had tried to pull out of my trunk, not realizing it was bolted down). Good thing too, he wouldn't have towed me out of Delaware.
I thanked Officer Studmuffin and Greasy McTowman and got back on the road. In 30 minutes I was home. I let Kate and Lara know what had happened and where I was so they wouldn't worry. The horse race will have to wait for another weekend, but this was good for me. I can survive a flat tire on the side of the road. I found humor in a less than ideal situation. And that $60 I took out of the bank before I left "just in case"? The tow truck guy took $55 of that, and he wouldn't have taken a check.