08.04.07
Priceless
I had a light check for the Aladdin at 4pm. Traffic was unusually bad and I was running 20 minutes late when the gas light came on. I kept panicking about the idea of running out of gas in the middle of already bad traffic. So by the time I pulled up to the Aladdin, and saw two cars parked out front with a space in the middle big enough for me, I quickly parallel parked and though, “Oh thank god, something today is going right.”
The light check was uneventful and everything took about 20 minutes before I headed back outside – just in time to see my red jeep, on the back of a flatbed tow truck driving away.
Freya. My dear companion. My beloved Jeep Wrangler who has traveled with me for the last year, taken me across country I’ve always dreamed of seeing. Her red body and black leather seats held me as I sobbed. She sheltered me in the tropical storm at the Grand Canyon and stood silently beside me as I marveled in awe. She ran with me through the Petrified Forest as sheet lightning blasted the desert around the road and laughed with me as I took our tops off and felt the current run through us. She listened to my stories as I work out kinks on the road, jammed out to loud music through rain, snow, ice and gridlock. My Freya. My friend.
There was no time to think – only act. He had my friend in chains on a flatbed and who knows where he was taking her – so, I ran. I ran like I never have before, dashing across three lanes of traffic in rush hour. My bright red shirt matched her paintjob so it seems to me that the people knew what I was going after. One woman stopped and waved to me to run faster, one woman yelled, “Go. Go. Go.” It was obvious who the red jeep must belong to and sympathetic people ushered me along. Thank god that traffic was so crappy and the tow truck was moving slow. Camera gear slammed against my back with each step and my sandals smacked the pavement.
I saw the light turn red and gave a thankful prayer to the Universe, as the driver was forced to halt. I raced past Freya who I imagined gave me an irritated scowl and I opened the passenger side of the tow truck and leaped up into the cab where I landed on the seat just as the light was turning green.
“I’ll pay now, but you’re not going anywhere without me.”
To my surprise, he just started laughing. “Okay, here we go.” And we went.
I was panting, trying to catch my breath and an uncomfortable silence filled the cab. Finally when I could breathe I said, “Soooo – how’s you’re day going?”
“My day’s going great!” he exclaimed. “How’s your day going?” He asked out of social habit.
I glanced out the back window as Freya rocked on her chains, then I looked at him as he realized he’d just asked me about my day when he had in fact, just towed my car. His face went slack and he stared at the road, awkwardly.
I just started laughing, hysterically like a fucking idiot. “Why are you laughing?” He asked.
“Oh, come on,” I wheezed. “It’s a little bit funny.”
He started laughing again as well. “Yeah, it’s a lot funny actually.”
Then to my shock, he looked at my sandaled feet, pink chipped polished toenails and said, “Very nice. A woman who takes care of her feet must take care of herself.”
Okay. Creepy.
We talked some more and the impound gates loomed – like a prison for vehicular companions, found guilty only of their owner’s stupidity, and forced to do time in lock down.
I smiled and told him to have a great day, and he said, “My day would be much better if you gave me your number.” We pulled into the tow shop where he released Freya and joked that he knew my number would be on my paperwork and was going to call.
Eeek! Freya, I hope you know how much I love you.
The secretary wrote me up and filed my papers with the city for the parking violation.
Evidently I’d parked in a zone that was no parking between 4-6 pm and I was in such a hurry I didn’t even check. Freya gave me the silent treatment for awhile. Occasionally I heard her mumbling things like, “You overbook yourself and then you don’t pay attention. You make me suffer because you have to be busy. You promised me we’d go to the beach last week and you never took us to Seattle like you said you would.”
She’s right.
Somehow, I made it through even worse traffic to a gas station because the light was still on, and then to the house for the rest of my gear before I had to hurry back to the Aladdin for the night shoot where I had an utter blast. I’ll post more on the Aladdin tomorrow.
Anywhoo, the moral of the story is pay attention, even if two other people are parked and the spot looks too good to be true – it probably is. They were also towed. Also, if you act on pure instinct and decide to go chasing a tow truck to rescue your best friend, don’t give your phone number out. Also, if you jump into the cab of a moving vehicle – remember to put on your seatbelt.
Happily, all is well. Freya is still cranky, but we’ll work it out with some tunage and a short drive somewhere. $190.00 is a good lesson and although it sucked, I laughed about it a lot. $120 to bail your best friend out of jail - $70 for a tow truck driver’s phone number – A story to blog about… Priceless.
