Chalk it up to Experience/Lesson Learned

So Friday night I was hanging out with my girls and Melanie was really low. I don't know why she wouldn't say. Which if she reads this she should know how frustrating it is when your friends won't open up to you because then we don't know how to help even how to console or whatever. I guess I'm always an open book so I never feel the need to not tell people why I'm feeling down. Obviously. Anyway, the next day I was shopping at Costco with some girls from my ward for the mingle that was today. Tacos, it was good. Lots of work though and I am tired. So anyway we passed by some flowers and I thought I would get Melanie some to cheer her up. And that it would also not make me as frustrated with her. It worked great. I dropped off some of the food to the bishop's house to store then went to Mel's to give her the flowers.

Now Melanie lives back off the street in this cute little town home. She has a two car garage and a small driveway. Usually if the driveway is full then I park just outside her house which is a tow away zone but I hadn't been towed yet. So today, even though there was a spot free in her driveway I didn't want to block anyone coming out of the garage so I just parked in the tow zone. I'd only be there for a minute anyway. In fact I'll just leave my purse in the car and just take my keys and wallet.

Melanie was very happy to get the flowers and so that made me happy too. Though the little nasty thoughts creeped in earlier about how I am such a great friend and really anyone would appreciate to have a friend like me. So why don't I feel like my friends appreciate me as much as I think they should. I don't think any of them have gone out of there way to do something to cheer me up other than listen to me blabber on about my weaknesses and so forth. Which does help, don't get me wrong, but do they go out of their way? Anyway I pushed those thoughts aside because they don't help and when I gave Melanie the flowers I was really glad to make her feel better. So I chatted with her and her roommate Sarah for twenty minutes or so and then headed out the door.

But as I look out the door to where my car is supposed to be all I see is an empty piece of pavement. I went through lots of emotions in the next hour. First I was shocked. It was so fast and usually we can hear when trucks come down that road. Well, Melanie got the company of the tow truck company and I called.

"Yeah, my blue buick skylark was just towed."
"Yep we just got it dropped off. It's gonna be $251.00. We are cash only."
"Okay, well my purse was in the car. Can I come get it?"
"Well, if you come right back with the money, then yes. If not, then no."
The rest of the conversation he gave me the address and repeating that they were a cash only place.
"You need to let us know twenty minutes in advance before you come here."
"Well, I'm coming now, is that advance enough for you?" (I'm starting to seeth a little here.)
"That should be fine."

Then the anger set in. Well, anger went in out actually. Angry at myself for being so stupid, mostly. We thought maybe a neighbor had called it in because Melanie has this really cantankerous neighbor that would just be the type. And he's complained about people parking there before. As Melanie went to get her shoes on, I started to vent and cry a little.

"$250. What a waste."

We hop in Mel's car and she drives me to the lot out on the west side of town. The lot was in horrible disarray and full of mostly junk cars. I went to the small office in a shed where one guy was and he told me where my car was so I could go get my purse. Also in the car was five pounds of raw ground beef that I needed to cook that night. As we were leaving, he told me that if I didn't come right back he would have to charge me another $55. So we headed to the nearest bank behind a pack of thirty-five bikers in town for some Harley Davidson convention or something. I saw hundreds of them later as I passed by the store on my way home. I pulled out $300 from savings. The guy better have change. We head back to the lot. The guy didn't have change. I gave him $260 and he had to scrounge in his truck and take money from some other poor suckers who'd had to pay to get their car. He had stapled to their money to their sign out sheets. The same sheet that I then had to sign. It's kind of a humiliating experience.

But you know these things happen. I shouldn't have parked there even though I don't think it should be a tow away zone. It's not blocking anything other than Melanie's driveway and that's who I am visiting. But really I'm not that upset. Though losing that money does really suck. Oh well. But I think that karma is crap now because I was doing something good for someone and then I got screwed. I don't regret doing it though. It's just one of those things.