BaddMinton

So, on my way to work this morning, thankfully at a red light right outside my office building, my car suddenly started to squeal and whine, like “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” and stinky, burning smoke (as opposed to non-burning smoke) started billowing out of the hood. At first I thought it was someone else, because my car is reliable, dammit! My car is never the smoking, screetching car. But this time it was, and I was like, “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” And I turned it off, and I was in the lane going straight, but the left turn lane next to me got a green arrow, so I turned my car back on and leaned out the window and looked as pitiful as possible until a truck let me turn left in front of him, and I went in the side entrance of my building and parked, and grabbed my stuff and got the hell out of there in case the car was planning to catch on fire. It didn’t, though I guess I wouldn’t know because I didn’t stick around to find out, but anyway, wow, that was scary, and I’m so glad I was already almost here or I would be stuck somewhere in maybe-not-the-worst-but-certainly-not-the-best-either part of town, waiting for AAA and having no idea where to tell AAA to tow me. But instead I’m at work making money, which will surely come in handy for whatever repairs will need to be done, and waiting for my co-worker Steve to give me the name of his trustworthy mechanic, and it can hopefully all be taken care of while I’m here, although I’m not crossing my fingers. Steve said it sounded like a belt had slipped loose, and I hope that’s all it is, because I don’t exactly have a new car budget set aside. And interestingly, I just got an oil change last weekend. Hmmmm….. could Jiffy Lube have done this? In any case, here we are, and there you go. I feel like such a young adult. A young woman caught in the rat race, working an office job and dealing with car problems. It’s like an initiation into the American Experience. Gross.