Nobody can accuse me of having a good sense of direction. Coupled with bad map reading skills and a suburban hell of cul de sac.. What happened last night really shouldn't be that much of a shock.
One of my dear friends, Mrs. M, had a lovely little baby, and was kind enough to invite me to her baby shower. Having never been to a baby shower, unsure of appropriate attire and hearing horrendous tales of "baby shower games".. I accepted, not reluctantly, but not altogether without fear. Egging on my terror was the fact that I would not only have to drive myself, (apparently men aren't welcome at such things..) but I would have to drive myself deep into the depths of a suburban housing development.
Not one to shirk my duties as a friend and party attendee.. I had Mr. Poshlust make me a map, took a city map and a cellphone with me in case of serious lost-ness, and headed out, appropriately late and hopefully, appropriately attired.
So I made it to the north side with relative ease, I mean, it was basically one straight line, enough for me to crank up Mos Def and sing along. But once I got TO the north side, that's where my troubles began. Dead ends, non-compliance with house numbers, houses that I thought SHOULD be the right ones.. only to find out they had no windows yet and there was most certainly NOT a baby shower there. 7:15 was nicely tardy, but at 7:40 I was giving up hope. My cell phone wasn't working, so I couldn't call anyone for directions, and it was dark. Oh so dark.
Hallelujah! Salvation! Two men "shootin' the shit" by a truck. I leapt out of my car, ran over doing my best maiden in distress act, and begged for directions. Apparently not only was I close (a five minute drive at worst) but chances are I had driven past already. Showering them both with thanks, hearing their front door close in the background, I ran back to my little car, to discover that being a consciencious city girl, I had locked my keys inside with the engine running. Not having any shame, I decided that I would crawl in the trunk, which I also promptly discovered was locked.
So I trudged, embarrassed and lost, up to the front door of aforementioned direction man's home. Where, I was promptly ushered in, offered a beer, and made to feel quite at home with Valerie and Dominick, and soon their friends who arrived to hang out. I called Mr. Almost Poshlust and the babyshower, Mr. Almost Poshlust sent AMA and the babyshower sent Stacey out for a recovery mission. Meanwhile, I was being fabulously entertained by Dominick and Valerie, who made me feel somewhat less stupid and so at home I couldn't believe it. They insisted I go to my party, and Valerie would call when AMA got there.
I don't know sometimes, when I watch the news in the morning, how our world gets from one day to the next with so much heartbreak and sadness and misdirection. I know now it's because quietly, softly, with a beer and an open door, people like Valerie and Dominick and their beautiful friends and family nudge the world from one day to the next. They point people in the right direction, and they give you a call when all is well. To Valerie and Dominick, thank-you.
It turns out that a cell phone tower was down, thus the reason I couldn't contact anyone. Brad had locked the trunk for my own safety, and I had indeed driven by the correct home numerous times. The babyshower was perfect, the baby even more so. I made it home just fine, with one or two wrong turns.. But in the big scheme of things, with people like Valerie and Dominick out there.. who wouldn't want to make a few wrong turns in life?
One of my dear friends, Mrs. M, had a lovely little baby, and was kind enough to invite me to her baby shower. Having never been to a baby shower, unsure of appropriate attire and hearing horrendous tales of "baby shower games".. I accepted, not reluctantly, but not altogether without fear. Egging on my terror was the fact that I would not only have to drive myself, (apparently men aren't welcome at such things..) but I would have to drive myself deep into the depths of a suburban housing development.
Not one to shirk my duties as a friend and party attendee.. I had Mr. Poshlust make me a map, took a city map and a cellphone with me in case of serious lost-ness, and headed out, appropriately late and hopefully, appropriately attired.
So I made it to the north side with relative ease, I mean, it was basically one straight line, enough for me to crank up Mos Def and sing along. But once I got TO the north side, that's where my troubles began. Dead ends, non-compliance with house numbers, houses that I thought SHOULD be the right ones.. only to find out they had no windows yet and there was most certainly NOT a baby shower there. 7:15 was nicely tardy, but at 7:40 I was giving up hope. My cell phone wasn't working, so I couldn't call anyone for directions, and it was dark. Oh so dark.
Hallelujah! Salvation! Two men "shootin' the shit" by a truck. I leapt out of my car, ran over doing my best maiden in distress act, and begged for directions. Apparently not only was I close (a five minute drive at worst) but chances are I had driven past already. Showering them both with thanks, hearing their front door close in the background, I ran back to my little car, to discover that being a consciencious city girl, I had locked my keys inside with the engine running. Not having any shame, I decided that I would crawl in the trunk, which I also promptly discovered was locked.
So I trudged, embarrassed and lost, up to the front door of aforementioned direction man's home. Where, I was promptly ushered in, offered a beer, and made to feel quite at home with Valerie and Dominick, and soon their friends who arrived to hang out. I called Mr. Almost Poshlust and the babyshower, Mr. Almost Poshlust sent AMA and the babyshower sent Stacey out for a recovery mission. Meanwhile, I was being fabulously entertained by Dominick and Valerie, who made me feel somewhat less stupid and so at home I couldn't believe it. They insisted I go to my party, and Valerie would call when AMA got there.
I don't know sometimes, when I watch the news in the morning, how our world gets from one day to the next with so much heartbreak and sadness and misdirection. I know now it's because quietly, softly, with a beer and an open door, people like Valerie and Dominick and their beautiful friends and family nudge the world from one day to the next. They point people in the right direction, and they give you a call when all is well. To Valerie and Dominick, thank-you.
It turns out that a cell phone tower was down, thus the reason I couldn't contact anyone. Brad had locked the trunk for my own safety, and I had indeed driven by the correct home numerous times. The babyshower was perfect, the baby even more so. I made it home just fine, with one or two wrong turns.. But in the big scheme of things, with people like Valerie and Dominick out there.. who wouldn't want to make a few wrong turns in life?
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