J had soccer at 10 a.m. this morning. I had been a little slow, due to intensity at work, about making a Zipcar reservation.
Her soccer field isn’t that far away. It’s probably a 20 minute walk. We never used to get a zipcar to go. She and Beloved have ridden their bikes, and we’ve done the walk. But E’s field is super-far away, down in the burbs, and a car is pretty much mandatory.
Today, E is missing soccer, because she went to NYC to see a movie (snark), so perhaps I should have reverted to just walking to J’s game.
But it’s 32 degrees outside.
And a friend called, and asked us to bring the BFF, and she’s not used to walking as much as we are.
So I wanted a Zipcar. I ended up with one kind of far away, since I didn’t make the reservation until 5:30 yesterday afternoon.
I wasn’t looking forward to leaving the house at 8:30 to take the T to get the car. IT was cold out. I wore a down coat.
I got to the car at 9:20, and had 10 minutes to drive home, grab J, grab my wallet (so I could pick up $100 worth of dry cleaning on the way home!!!!), and go get BFF and get to the field by 9:45. Time was sort of tight.
So I get in the car … there’s no key.
This is the way the cars work: Everyone has a card. There is a swipe/scan box on the windshield, and when you scan your card, the doors unlock. Once you get in the car, the ignition key is on a draw string doo-hickey hanging from the steering column. Soemtimes, the doo-hickey breaks, and instead, the key is in the cup holder, or on the seat.
This time, there was no key. It was nowhere. No key.
But but but … I don’t have TIME for this.
I called Zipcar. After confirming 15 different things about my card, my car, my mother, my cat, and my daughter’s birth story, I was finally able to talk to a person. Who said, “okay, so, can you please check the cupholder? Now, open the glove compartment, take the books out, and make sure it isn’t in there.”
I told her that I looked EVERYWHERE. That I would not have called her if I did not look EVERYWHERE. I looked in the sunglasses holder, I looked in all 4 cupholders, I looked in all 4 door pockets, I looked under the seats, I looked in the cushions of the seats, I looked in the glove compartment … there was nowhere left.
She put me on hold.
I now had 5 minutes to get home.
She asked me to look in a hidden compartment UNDER the cupholder. I asked HER if I could transfer the reservation to the car sitting next to me. She said uh, no. Someone had it reserved for 10:30 (It was now 9:35). I asked if we could give me that car, and them bring another car to fulfill the 10:30 reservation.
She said no.
She said maybe someone could bring me a key.
I said “Their game starts in 15 minutes!!!!”
I ended up having to hang up on her, call Beloved, tell him to call a cab to take him to BFF’s house to get BFF, and then take them all to the soccer game, and I’d be there as soon as I could.
He was less than thrilled, which pissed me off, because I had no other options at that point.
Then I called BFF’s mom to say we were running behind. She said her husband was still home, and could run and get J. I told her I’d have it all worked out in time to be at the soccer field after the game.
Then I called Beloved, told him to forget the cab, that BFF’s dad would swing by in a minute.
Then I called Zipcar back.
She told me to look in the cupholder.
Then she told me to look in the glove compartment.
I told her to go to hell, and get me a new fucking car.
No.
I said, “I looked everywhere, it’s not here, I want a different car.”
She transferred my reservation to a different car – I had to take the T 4 stops back toward home, and then walk 1/2 mile to the parking spot.
Not.
Happy.
At.
All.
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