Sometimes we idealize small town living to the point that we want to live there. Allow me to lay out the events of the past few days to let you know that maybe small town life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
So, after a fun weekend at the lake, our friend Megan inadvertently locked her keys in her car. I guess the inadvertently was redundant, since I can’t exactly picture someone purposefully locking the keys in the car. Anyway, she inadvertently did that. We were all at our cottage and it was around 9pm. Travis immediately starts looking on YouTube for ways to break into the car. I call the police. It seems that with all the technology in cars these days, the police won’t assist a person whose keys are in their car. Well, they will if you also happen to lock your baby in the car. Don’t laugh, I did it once. Fortunately, the car was running and the air conditioning was on. Actually, it was my mom that locked Trent in the car when he was a baby, but I digress. To clarify, baby in the car, police will help. Purse and belongings in car, police will not help. I am betting that the police were sued for repairs to a car after applying a slim jim one time, so now they won’t do it. Too much electronics and wiring in the door.
So, the police in Monticello, Indiana recommended the lock doctor (or some similar name). I called the lock doctor. He answered. He wasn’t in town, so he couldn’t be there for over an hour. Truthfully, he didn’t seem that interested in our business. That seemed a little lengthy for the generation of instant gratification, so I asked if there were any other businesses that could assist us. He gave me a name of a towing company. I let him know that I would try a couple places and call him back if I couldn’t find help. I contacted said company and the gentleman there said he couldn’t help with that make and model vehicle. Something like the specs hadn’t come out yet for breaking into that particular car. Now, I could contemplate these specs. Is it burglars’ weekly column or a public service to companies needing to get into cars? Who knows!! But he couldn’t help us. After trying and failing a couple more times, I called the lock doctor back. Except, he didn’t answer my call. I left a message. He didn’t answer the five more times I called either. And that left us searching for other options. Travis wanted Megan to come home with us and then take Bert (the SUV of questionable origin). But that left the house a vehicle short the following day. Fortunately, our friends and neighbors came to the rescue and lent Megan one of their vehicles that they didn’t need the following day. Thanks Sean and Melissa! They will be starting some new emergency UBER like service soon. And I never heard back from the lock doctor. So, this person knowingly left us hanging.
Let’s contrast that with an experience the following day. Tessa and I were returning from a dermatologist appointment at University of Chicago, which the insurance company has notified me will remain out of network, despite a history of melanoma in Trav’s family, and a referral from our family doctor. Don’t get me started about taking medicine away from the Doctors. Anyway, Bert got a flat tire. Guess it’s good that Megan didn’t take ol Bert, or she might have assumed that she had a dark cloud hanging over her. We were on I-90, the skyway out of Chicago when the tire light went on. As Tessa and I contemplated whether we could, or indeed should, take the next exit, the right rear tire started to make an obscene noise. We realized rather quickly that we most definitely could NOT make the next exit. So we pulled over to the right at an onramp. Thank goodness for the onramp because the shoulder on I-90 is tiny…and Bert is not tiny. So, the onramp saved us from hanging into traffic. After we pulled over, I started looking to find out if there is any free assistance offered to cars stranded on the toll roads. Turns out, Indiana only offers that service to specific roads. Oh, to live in a state with a balanced budget. It makes us pay for our own assistance. Now before you get all over my case here for not doing the tire change myself, I was in nicer clothes because I was entering real civilization, so I thought I should make an effort. So, sliding under Bert to unstick the spare did not sound like fun. Or very clean. Anyway, at that point I remembered that we have roadside assistance with Liberty Mutual. Perhaps I should use it since I pay for it. So, I did. The automated format was glitchy and I couldn’t get the auto map to work on my phone, so I ended up with a person. That particular person could not find Rt. 41/Calumet Avenue and I-90 on her map. This is a bit distressing because these are main roads in NW Indiana. I was contemplating recommending a change of career, but I stopped myself when I realized that this woman stood between me and roadside assistance. She put in the order using my hometown of Valpo, which is NOT where I was. But the guy working for roadside assistance called me, and I gave him my location. He was there in 20 minutes. And he was incredibly quick at tire changes. Now, in that 20 minute window, Tessa and I had to exit Bert because I only had one eighth of a tank of gas, and I thought it imprudent to risk running out of gas. Let’s not compound the issues. And before you get on my case for the gas situation, please remember that I wasn’t planning to get a flat tire, and I had plenty of gas left to get home…just not plenty of gas to run the car endlessly just to have air conditioning. So, since we were standing outside the vehicle, more off the road, and behind it, we started taking the spare down, with the help of YouTube. We were actually doing quite well when a good Samaritan stopped and started helping us. He reasoned that he had a wife and daughter and would like it if someone would help them. After the lug nuts were loosened (yes I have the locking nut in my glove box, and I knew that, and I knew what that was), Josh from the Liberty Mutual team pulled up. We were having a regular party on the side of I-90. Josh took over and we were on the road in no time.
I figure that that is the difference between a small town and a more populated area. You are much more likely to get paid help in a populated area. In a small town, maybe you are more likely to have a neighbor bail you out. Although, I have had neighbors bail me out here in Valpo, which I don’t consider exactly a small town. I think you will be out of luck if you are just travelling through a small town. Then, you don’t know the neighbors.
Finally, a quick shout out to Travis for our 26th anniversary, which is today. Who knew you possessed such powers of tolerance? Let’s go for another 26!!