It was the first day of summer camp. Happy fun summer kick-off day, right? Not. I was going to bring Nash and his best pal (which would ensure a painless drop off), but since our phone at home has not worked since Friday night, Max’s mom couldn’t get through to confirm the details (even though I left her a message saying the phone wasn’t working and leaving my cell phone number but I’m so guilty of just seeing someone called and not listening to the message I totally forgive this one). Yadda, yadda, yadda, she had decided to bring Max herself so I had to bring Nash alone. Of course there wasn’t a single kid there that he knew and I couldn’t just leave him all alone so I tried to interact with a couple kids to see if it was OK if Nash join them in the sandbox and they said ‘NO’. Seriously. ’No lady, your kid can’t play with us tell him to find his own damn friends’, was what I heard and it broke my heart. But Nash was OK and we wandered around a bit. I spotted a trash can and decide to throw away his half eaten breakfast bar and nearly empty strawberry milk (for which he told me I was “too awesome” for buying). I kept trying to get him to finish them but he had told me three times he was done and I was getting sick of holding it. Of course the moment he realized I threw them away, he wanted them back. Tears followed by discussions of why we can’t take it out of the trash (I could add another Seinfeld reference here). After I get him calmed down, we go out to the sandbox and start collecting dinosaurs to play with together. After a few minutes he looks up at me and says “You can go now, mom.” Insert tears again, but this time they’re mine.
Next mission – catch a train to get to work. It’s 8:11. The train out of Salem leaves in 16 minutes. If I miss it, there’s not another for 45 minutes. It took me 12 minutes to get here from home, so I can probably get to my parking spot but then it’s another 5 minute walk from there so it’s cutting it close. So I decide to drive to Wonderland and take the blue line train from there. Driving there I realize I only have $2. Parking is $4. I must have $2 in change in the bottom of my purse or somewhere in the car, right? Nope. I have exactly $1.90 and I can’t find another 10 cents anywhere (yes, I’ve pulled over and looked everywhere). I contemplate making a sign and panhandling for the final 10 cents but of course I don’t have a piece of cardboard or a marker (I looked). Then I heard the news that George Carlin died and that makes me sad. I need George Carlin right now to make me laugh, dammit! I’m sure he was proud that his seven famous words you can’t say on TV have been said numerous times in my car this morning.
So now I just need to stop at an ATM, right? Of course I don’t see any and I’m in Lynn, Lynn, city of sin so I’m not sure I even want to get out of my car even if I do see one. I decide to go to a Stop and Shop grocery store and never one to pay a service fees for a bank that’s not mine, I buy a 12 pack of diet coke and do the self checkout thing and plan to get cash back. Of course there’s a problem and I have to wait for the lady with the key to come, but eventually I make it out with two nice crisp twenty dollar bills.
I head back to the train station and realize I can’t take the left turn I need to to get into the parking lot. So I drive until I see an opportunity and do an illegal u-turn. I pull in and give the guy my crisp $20 hoping he’ll ask if I have anything smaller so I can offer him my $3.90 but no luck. I park and walk across the Lynnway to the train station. Um, what does that sign say? ”STATION CLOSED”. Seriously??
Cut to me on a bus.
I eventually make it to work and take pride in the fact that it just can’t get any worse today. Fingers crossed…..
