I was doing fine, writing 2000 words a day in one sitting, but lost my way on Thursday when I came out of Starbucks and saw my car rolling backwards. For a nanosecond I wondered where it was going without me, but then I saw the tow truck it was attached to. I hobbled toward it shouting and quickly becoming semi-hysterical. Did I mention that I am recovering from ankle surgery and wearing a post-surgery boot that looks like I borrowed it from Frankenstein, and I lean heavily on a cane?
Standing next to my parking place was a man with a clipboard telling me that I had been parked in the lot for more than three hours. He was a spotter for the towing company that was contracted to remove delinquent cars from the lot. Did I also mention that I have a permanent handicapped parking placard and was parked in a handicapped space?
So I did the natural thing and stood in the middle of the parking lot calling 911 and shouting at the dispatcher who answered my call, that I was watching my car being stolen, but the police had apparently abdicated jurisdiction because it's a private lot. I was told to call the towing company, which I did, standing in the middle of the parking lot and shouting at the kid who answered the phone. Neither phone call did any good. The towing company spotter was presumed to be right. Never mind that I had been parked there for barely an hour, not three. My fatal mistake was that I had parked in the same lot earlier in the day in the parking place directly adjacent to the one from which my car was towed. And I had been parked for barely an hour the first time, too. I had driven off the lot to go to the high school for teachers' conferences and returned to continue writing for another hour.
Now for the irony. The company that towed my car is a licensed relocator. When I practiced law twenty years ago, my boss and I were retained to represent the Illinois association of relocators, so back then I had gone to court to represent the company that had just towed my car.
I want my $170 ransom back, of course, but more than anything I look forward to proving that Clipboard Guy was wrong, wrong, oh, so wrong. I have already done some research and have made a plan, but it has distracted me from writing and upset me terribly. I left law practice because I couldn't handle the stress, and here I am again, on the other side of the courtroom.
I have given this experience to one of my supporting characters, so I'm getting back on the word count merry-go-round by telling this story in my novel.
If you have gotten this far in this post, then you are procrastinating. Follow me. I know the way back to the word processing program.
Kathleen
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Hope is the thing with feathers -
39,814 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 14 33
Beautiful, Kathleen! Thank you. I hope there is somewhere else you can do your work besides that Starbucks/that lot? I'd let the shopping center/lot owner know of your displeasure at allowing the firm to make the decisions on who gets towed.
I've only been towed once, when I was a kid, brand new car, I was working for the County social services department as a volunteer and the County lots were always full so people would park in the back of the adjacent mall/shopping center lot. One day they put fliers on all those cars saying not to do that anymore or you'd be towed but I didn't get a flyer or the word, etc. and got towed. It was baffling because this was back in the early 1970's and I had no clue what had happened, towing was not something that happened to people like me :-) and I was young enough to be ignorant so thought my car had been stolen.
I have a "funny" handicap space story; the little company I worked for bought the building we moved to and one day the owner got a ticket for parking in what he thought was "his" lot. He didn't realize that the signed handicap parking spaces were State mandated and as long as there was a sign, he could get a ticket. It was an engineering firm :-) and he immediately sent out a couple young engineers to take care of the sign.
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Nov 7, 2009 - 15 29
What a story! It's great that you can at least use it to get some Nano words. It will be greater when you get your $170 back! Good luck with this!
23,576 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 10
to Kathleen --
I liked your story -- because it makes for great word count -- until you got to the part about "if you are still reading you are procrastinating" Hahaha. That really got me. I am just finishing a quick bit of procrastination and wanted to read one last forum post.
Sorry about the towing. I have had my share of similar misguided events that suck up way too much time and mental energy.
So, yes, if you've read this far..........
Cheers and glad your are fighting back!
Danielle
aka Miramar
PS I also had to wear a boot when I hurt my foot. Those things are the Devil!
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Nov 8, 2009 - 13 42
I definatly would not go back to that Starbucks. If they let their customers be towed, they don't deserve your business.
I lost my rhythm yesterday, too. My lap top ate 1000 words some how. I got depressed and drank too much and played poker last night instead of writing. Now, I am still over 1000 words behind but I have managed to re create the parts I lost and then some. Hope to get more words later tonight. (I was so bummed I seriously thought about giving up, but I'm still trying to hang in there).
35,801 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 13 48
You totally need a bumper sticker that says, "Don't piss me off or I'll put you in my novel!" ;)
I would let the manager of the Starbucks know that I will not be patronizing them any more. I would also let the state authorities know that they towed a legally parked handicap car from a handicap place. Good luck fighting everything and keep writing.
----------Pika
"I can juggle verbs, adverbs and nouns, I can make them dance 'till they all fall down." - Jimmy Buffett
5,531 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 15 18
LOL, Kathleen, so what if I'm procrastinating ... your story was SO worth it! You're a great writer to incorporate it into your novel, and a strong person to speak out. I hope you get everything good that you deserve.
My husband is disabled and the fight for truth, justice, and the alleged American way is ongoing.
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