yesterday my car died at a busy stoplight. while waiting for the light to turn green, it just started coughing and then shuddered and died. i turned my hazard lights on right away and then sat in my car trying to figure out what to do. i called mr. happy stuff since i wasn’t too far away from his place of employment and he said he’d come over to help, but i didn’t want to sit in the middle of the road until he showed up. i was blocking traffic! i had slammed the car into “park” to try to rev the engine (to no avail) and now the car was stuck in that gear. a guy who had been standing at a nearby bus stop walked over to see if i wanted some help. he tried to get it out of “park” but had no better luck than i had. i fought with it for a few more minutes and finally got it into neutral and he helped to push the car around the corner and into a much less busy bus lane. is it even possible to push and steer a car all by yourself? at one point, we were stuck going over the edge of a curb and i got out to help push and held onto the steering wheel at the same time, but i’m not sure i could have pushed it that far alone. a cop pulled up behind me and stayed there with flashing lights so i wouldn’t get rear-ended and then mr. h-s showed up and since it was apparent that i had plenty of help, i thanked the man who’d helped me push and he went on his way. how nice to have the help of a stranger.
other “happy” things: i got to experience the inside of a tow truck cab (woo hoo!) and also the joy of having three vehicles at home (since we still haven’t sold the truck) and not having to worry about how i would get to work. all told, it was as smooth an experience as one might expect after your car dies in traffic. and now i know what to do! (sorta.)
