Dontcha Just Love a Comedy of Errors?

One of those mornings that you laugh about later, if you manage not to go nuts with the stress involved.

Started out at 9 to visit a food pantry new to me. Didn't really need anything, but it was a distance away and I thought I'd check it out and let some folks in my senior mobile home community in on whatever I learned.

Got there at 9:30 and the strip mall was really tight parking. Tried to get into an end spot across from the place but apparently misjudged the tightness of the curved curb on the driver's side. By the time I realize I was scraping, I heard a big ol' hissssssss. Prayed fervently that I hadn't messed up the radiator but managed to fully park the car without any sensor lights coming on. Got out. Tire really smooshed.

Now, they weren't supposed to open until 10 and they were across the drive from where I was parked but I wasn't eager to go inside the hookah/pipes/head-shop I was in front of, so I tried the door to the food pantry and miraculously, it was already open. They allowed me to sit in there, out of our heat, while I did the cell phone calls back and forth for the tow.

This was rush hour. I expected the predicted hour wait. Just before the hour was up, I get a call that the guy is 5 minutes away. I walked out of that place and across to my car to wait for him. Ten minutes later he calls and says he's outside of my home, about 7 miles the other direction, in the mobile home park. Somehow, he went to my home address instead of my incident address.

He hung up, ten minutes later his dispatch called and said he was headed back to where I really was. Half an hour later, he did get there.

Now during this time, between 9:30 when it happened, and when the car was loaded onto the flat bed at 12:30, there were quite a few calls and texts back and forth. I only use a prepaid non-smart flip phone on the road. During these exchanges, I almost had to laugh because the insurance company (road service) and the tow company, each one blamed the other for the mix up in addresses.

During that time, also, the staff at the food pantry noticed where I had the problem and 3 of them told me that they, too, had scraped that particular rounded curb but hadn't blown their tires. I am normally a very careful driver, very. But even though they tried to make me feel it was not my fault because of the way that spot was made, I knew that I must have allowed myself to become momentarily distracted - after all, 3 or 4 of us might have had issues, but literally hundreds of others had parked there just fine over the years, right?

At that point, I had already realized I didn't expect that tire to be able to be repaired and expected to need a replacement tire. This car, a hybrid, does not come with, or have room for, a spare. I asked to be towed to a place I use for tires about 2 or 3 blocks from me. After climbing Mt. Everest to get up into the cab of the tow truck, we headed off.

At the tire shop, I already knew I had problems. I only had $13 left in my bank account but my SSA was coming in on Wednesday. So when they said I did need a tire, and they did have one, I had to explain the money situation. I remembered I had an unused gift debit card at home, destined for a special need. So I asked to be taken home to get it. This guy was SO nice. He did the job, and let me go home to get the card and trusted me to come back.

All is well, at the moment. I left the house at 9 and got home at 2...

This is one of those things you laugh about afterwards... I'm almost ready to start laughing...