Thursday, September 10, 2009

Driving While Stupid

Today after yoga I was having coffee with my friends Carla and Janet, and we got to talking about stupid things we've done in the car. Janet had us cracking up when she told us of the night she drove straight into the garage with her daughter's bike on the bike rack! The bike just bounced right off the rack and landed in the driveway with nary a scratch. I told of the time I drove into the parking garage at Evergreen Hospital........WITH the car top carrier on! I heard a scrape, a crunch and then "Oh Shit!" Thankfully the nice lady behind me (and the three cars behind her) backed up so I could scoot out, and hurry off to find more appropriate parking while trying to hide my head in embarrassment. The damage? Just a dent that popped right back out when Jeff pushed on it. Another time, when I was married to Doug, we drove right into the garage with the Christmas tree on top of the car! As soon as we parked we looked at each other and said "Oh Shit!" (common phrase of the chronically stupid) and then brainstormed a way to fix it (his idea? Drive back out - Noooooo!! Duh, the tree would have been stripped bare!). The solution? Roll the tree off the side - and quick before any neighbors see how stupid we were! One day I had Hannah (and all the other kids) at Children's hospital for an appointment. We left after dark and were driving in the parking garage, trying to find a way out of the damn thing! I drove around and around and finally came to a section that was REALLY dark - I could hardly see! I said (all indignant-like) "they should really get some lights in here, this is ridiculous how dark it is, I can't even see!" There was a brief silence followed by Hannah saying "DUH, Mom! We are OUTSIDE!" We had some good laughs..........so what's YOUR stupid driving story?

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Hi Mary-Leah! I found your blog from Sydney's! I have a stupid driving story. A few weeks ago I was in downtown Raleigh in an unfamiliar area visiting a business in a condo complex. When I was done, I turned out of the parking lot onto the side street and pulled up to the main road, watching traffic go down the street and waiting for an opening. An old man comes up to my window, motioning for me to roll it down. I try to ignore him, but he keeps motioning, so I cautiously crack it, and he says "You do know this is a one way street, the other way, right?" Haha, obviously I DIDN'T know that, but I told him thanks, did my little 3 point turn, and drove away. Got a little turned around, but eventually found my way home. There was no one way sign! And on a tiny little residential street! Haha I can only imagine if someone had wanted to turn down the street I was on. Oh well. :-) Not too hilarious, but I was definitely hanging my head in embarassment. :-)

Mimi/Papa said...

I have been thinking of my most stupid driving stunt. We were in Portland, OR, on a Nike project. Bill left me with the car after I dropped him off in Beaverton, then I was to proceed to our hotel! I had never driven in PDX and didn't know north from south, etc...I was nervous driving in a strange city and while I had good directions, I missed a turn, panicked, and then made the next right turn, thinking I could "just go around the block" and be back on track! Well, no, not in PDX can you do that, at least not then! I found myself on a very lonely street, no traffic, no driveways to turn into to turn around...nothing! I came to a stop light. Cars were also stopped in the other three (N, E and W) lanes...I noticed a man waving frantically at me! I didn't know what was going on..finally he drove through the "stop light" and said, "Lady, turn around, you are on a one-way street!!!" I have NEVER been so embarassed and thank goodness we had a rental car so that no one would know where I was from as they all honked their horns long and hard at me! LOL