Friday, September 9, 2016

Gilligan and Me

I feel like I’m on Gilligan’s Island. It all started this afternoon. My son had a meeting in our Torrance office, which is about an hour’s drive away. The meeting was supposed to be an hour and then we were to shoot back through L.A. to the Valley before rush hour.

I have several purposes for going along. My presence makes it possible for him to go in the car pool lane and if he has multiple meetings, I act as greeter and staller if his previous meeting is going long. Today, it was just about getting him into the car pool lane.

I should mention that my son just moved and we went there late last night to go through his old place where it turned out a lot of stuff had been left in drawers and cabinets. The bags of odds and ends were still in the car rolling and banging around as we headed to Torrance.

Since we were supposed to be there for such a short time, I didn’t drag along my computer bag and planned to work on my manuscript when I got home. All I took along was my appointment book, a book to read and a notebook just in case something came to mind and I wanted to write it down.

Okay, so the meeting took over two hours. Then my son was sending emails on his phone while I waited inside the SUV ready to hit the road. When we finally headed for the freeway to go home it was right in the middle of rush hour. And then there was an accident on the freeway, which strangely didn’t make the traffic go any slower.

In our rush to get to the office, neither of us had eaten, so he suggested we stop to get some food. As the traffic crawled we considered our options and finally chose a place in the far western part of the Valley. By the time we got there it was six or about five and a half hours after we’d left for his one hour meeting.

It turned out neither of us was that hungry and we ended up with packing up two containers of pasta and putting them in the car, because he now wanted to stop at the Walmart that was in the same center where we ate. I didn’t have much chance to object because he got a phone call and the next thing I knew he was wandering the store talking on the phone.

I’m not familiar with that Walmart and had no idea where anything was or where he was after a few moments. With nothing else to do, I found the craft aisle and a crochet book that had a pattern similar to something I wanted to make. I finally found my son just as he got off the phone and told me he hadn’t found any outdoor chairs there and we were now going to Home Depot which was also in the same center.

I paid for my crochet book and away we went sailing around the parking lot to the next stop. He said he’d be quick and so now I was wandering around Home Depot looking at the pots of fall flowers. Then I saw him checking out with two plastic Adirondack chairs in a shopping cart. Somehow he fit them in with all the other stuff rolling around of the back of the SUV.

By now it was close to eight. I was supposed to go to Trader Joe’s with my husband after a meeting he had. My son said he’d take me there and could meet my husband at the store. Everything rolled and bounced around the SUV as we headed to the next stop. My son dropped me, my appointment book, notebook, book to read and new crochet book along with my bag of leftover food in front of Trader Joe’s and drove off. I went inside and looked for my husband, but he wasn’t there. And I suddenly had a horrible feeling that he had gone to the Trader Joe’s in the same center as the other places we’d been. Was I stranded at Trader Joe’s?

Meanwhile my phone was almost out of juice, but a call with what was left confirmed that he was parking the car - at the right Trader Joe’s. Whew!

I finally got home at nine or seven and a half hours after I’d left in a different car. I got flagged to go with tomorrow for another single meeting at another of our offices. I wonder where I’ll end up.

4 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

Yikes! Having spent a lot of time in my car in a few traffic jams today, I empathize with you but at least I didn't have to do much shopping or waiting otherwise. I hope your day today went a lot more smoothly!

chkntza said...

I love how you keep you attitude upbeat no matter what you do.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, somehow when my son is involved, I never know how the day is going to turn out. Today we got to Costco one minute before they closed. We were returning some stuff and just got in line in time. Then we ended up walking around the new outdoor shopping area and getting iced coffees.

I don't really mind all the surprise adventures because much as I'd like to be home taking care of stuff I need to, I love being out and about even more.

Betty Hechtman said...

Miriam, I do enjoy whatever I do. I love having a day home alone, but I also love the days I go with my son.