– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young – - Oh, pardon me!

– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young –

Thanks to Facebook and a few personal experiences, I’ve come to realize I’m not the only one to make an error, when it comes to finding your parked car. Of course, it can be a bit embarrassing to admit you don’t even know which car is yours, but if you have a sense of humor, you can laugh it off and it becomes a good story to tell!

The first time I mistook someone else’s car for my own – or, in this case, the one I was driving – was when I was still delivering the weekly papers from the printer. I had quite a few stops to make, after I picked up the papers each week and, at the time, we still delivered to what was Gordy’s at Lake Wissota.

I locked the small, white SUV (no clicker, just key entry), and headed in to pick up last week’s copies and drop off the new edition. However, when I came out and tried to unlock the door, the key wouldn’t work.

Not going to lie, I panicked. It wasn’t my car, it was the work vehicle, I was on a strict time schedule (Believe it or not, if you don’t get the papers into the stores and office on time, people get grouchy; plus, you have to get to the post offices, to make the truck that takes them to the processing center.) and I’m a very different personality now, than I was then, so I kind of had a meltdown.

I tried and tried to get the door to open, but the key wouldn’t even turn. It was winter at the time and we’d just had some fresh, slushy snow, but it wasn’t really that cold. Still, maybe it had frozen somehow, like my old house door used to. My personal vehicle often had that problem, too.

I carried de-thawing spray to combat that, of course, I didn’t have it with me, nor did I have any money to go back into the store and buy any, since my wallet was in the locked car.

Desperately, I walked around to the passenger side door, to see if it would unlock, when I glanced in the car and didn’t see my purse. Oh crap, was that why it wouldn’t open? Someone must have jimmied the lock, broken in, stolen my purse and ruined the lock!

In the midst of another panic attack, I noticed that the crooks must have left a blanket in the front seat, too. Wait, why would they do that?

I took a closer look and realized there were a lot of things in the car that weren’t there before. What in the heck!? I walked back around to the driver side and on my way, I noticed the license plate was not the same any longer. Huh?!

A small light bulb came on in my dense brain and swiveling my head, I saw my car, one row over. Sheepishly, I ducked my head, hurried over to it, unlocked it and hopped in, driving quickly away, hoping no one had seen the whole escapade and no one thought I was trying to break into that other car.

Like I said, I was a different person then. Now, I would have simply had a good laugh and forgotten about it. Funny thing is, that other small, white SUV, was the same make and model, AND had a black mark on the back part, in the exact spot the work car did. Talk about a coincidence.

Another adventure does not belong to me, but I was witness to it. My friends and I met at Fireworks on the Range in Cadott, and after the display was done, we packed up our chairs in the dark and headed for the parking lot, with droves of other people who enjoyed the show.

I was talking and walking with my one friend, while our other friend had the hand of the first friend’s little boy. As we walked along, she veered off, opened the back door of the truck and started buckling the little boy into the car seat. Until, we both said, “Um, whatcha doin’?”

She said, “Huh? What do you mean? I’m getting him in his car seat.”

Except, it wasn’t his car seat. We told her it was the wrong truck and suddenly, there, standing behind her, trying not to laugh, was the true owner of the truck. He was very good-natured about the mistake, as we all began laughing and quickly got the little tyke out of the strange truck. Again, what are the odds, that she picked a truck with a car seat in it?

All was well that ended well, in that case. Just recently, I had just covered an event at Cadott, and was walking back to the car, unlocking it with my clicker key. I was checking my phone at all the messages on there, as I swung my camera bag into the car and thought, wait, why is the inside leather, instead of cloth.

The thought that popped through my head, was, oh no, I did it again, didn’t I? Sure enough, by standing on tip-toe, I could see my car, parked next to the one I thought was mine. In my defense, they were the same color red, same height, etc., but I really should have paid more attention, because mine is festooned with various decals and stickers, making it stand out. Stand out to everyone but me, apparently.

Probably the most ludicrous and hysterical instance, was a few years ago, when I made a trip to Walmart in Chippewa Falls. Mom’s hip was bothering her, so she waited in our big, tan SUV, while I went in and shopped. Well, it wasn’t an easy trip in there; I kept running into people I knew and it was really busy, so checkout was a long time.

Finally, I headed back out to the parking lot with my full cart and had no trouble spotting my car. I marched up the passenger side front, opened the door and without looking at the tiny lady therein, I slung my purse at her and said, “Sorry, it took forever, you wouldn’t believe....” and looked up at the startled, strange older woman looking back at me, as she held my purse out, like it was a snake.

I exclaimed, “You’re not my mother!” Her response, “You’re not my daughter!”

At that moment, we head a loud, “YO!” We whipped our heads around at the next row over and there was Mom, standing on the running board with the door open, waving her arm, like, you idiot, I’m over here!

“Hey, there she is!” I told said stranger. She handed me back my purse and kindly told me, “I’m glad you found your mother, dear.”

In all these cases, there was no harm done, but they do serve as a learning lesson. Never leave your car unlocked while not in it or sitting in it, otherwise, you may have a passenger you didn’t count on. Also, it’s probably best to memorize where you parked, before you walk away.