Wednesday, February 5, 2014

No-Good Day

Let me say:  I basically had this coming because I had highly anticipated having a Snow Day today. 

I woke up to 6 inches of snow and a boss who was insistent we open the store on time.  Ok.

I left an hour before I needed to be at work (a normal 10 minute drive).  In our little neighborhood, the roads were... rough.  There were some plow drifts that were halfway up my door.  Little scary.

I got almost all the way to work where I was too afraid to turn off the highway and into the parking lot - the turn lane wasn't plowed and had way too much snow for my little car.

So I went to the next major intersection to turn left.  The drifts were still extremely bad, but there were at least 2 cars and a truck ahead of me, so I felt semi-ok.

First - we waited about 3 turns of the light and the turn arrow never turned green.  Apparently there was SO much snow it wasn't registering that there was a line of cars waiting.  Uh oh.

A truck behind me pulled up alongside the cars in front of me - and magically it turned, and everybody went.  As I got to the front of the line, the light changed.  So I stopped my car... and I could tell that as I slowed down, the car sun down deeper.  Nooooooo.

The light went green after 3 agonizing minutes..... aaaand nothing.  I tried to really gently pull out without digging in deeper - no.

Light goes back to red. I get my car moving backwards quite a bit.  You know, on the highway at 8 am while people are driving like maniacs to get to work.

The light changed 7 total times, and I never got moving.  I've lived in a snowy place every single year of my life - but I had NO CLUE what to do.  Men in big trucks drove right around me to turn where I was trying to go.

And so I started to get scared.  Was I supposed to get out of the car?  Call a tow truck?  So I called my dad.  Started to melt down because he told me to hang up and he would come in 5 minutes if I didn't get out.

And then an ANGEL IN A SQUAD car saw me from across the intersection, put his lights on, and pushed on my trunk when the light turned green - and I MOVED. 

Seriously, I can't explain how long 10-14 minutes feels when you're stuck in the middle of a highway and there is no visible help around. 

I wish I had paid more attention to the cop's name, but he was in a hurry to get me moving on the next green before god-forbid anyone come flying up on me and slam into me.  No bueno.

I was so excited to get to work I could have kissed the ground.  Of course, my adrenaline was fully pumping at that point so I was shaking for at least 20 minutes before I got myself calmed down.

After that, I got to work and cleaned my store from top to bottom multiple times.  After 4 hours of  helping every customer who walked in the door, I had 3% of my sales in for the day (as opposed to the 35-65% I have on most days). 

Yay.  Starting the new fiscal year with a bang.

I have MORE than earned my giant, fuzzy pink robe, leopard slippers, wine, Bravo, half-finished craft project, and WINE tonight.  Lather, rinse, double-the-wine repeat.



Please tell me your day was better than mine.  I actually cannot handle the truth.

8 Classy Comments:

Lindsay said...

Ahhh I would have completely panicked!! I hate driving in the snow (and like you have lived in a snowy place my entire life) and freak out and forget what to do if I get stuck. My fiancé and I were digging out my car this afternoon and I couldn't move just trying to back up so we could clean the space better... And I got nervous. And I wasn't even driving on the road. I'm such a baby haha.

So glad you were able to get to work safely - the snow is scary!

Meg @ write meg! said...

I would have definitely freaked out, too. This winter has sucked, and I know we haven't even had it as bad as y'all do! I'm still expected to be at work on-time daily, too, so I've had to take extra precautions and do some crazy maneuvers to get in. It's been interesting. Bring on the spring!

Kelly B. said...

winter tip that I do not abide by myself: put kitty litter in your trunk. I had to use it once (in my alley) when my wheels were spinning and it's magic. But also, if I start to feel myself get the tiniest bit stuck I go into full fledged panic mode also. ack. the worst.

Andie said...

I am so glad you are ok!!!

Tess said...

I DO NOT miss driving in that kind of weather. I'm glad you are ok...and that wine was waiting for you.

Cute slippers ;)

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Oh my gosh! I'm so glad you were safe!

Sonya said...

I would have panicked too! Every morning after the snow there were at least 2 or 3 places where it took some effort to move my Jeep forward. So not fun. Plus people follow so closely I'm afraid I'm going to get rear-ended! Glad the officer came to help!

Jessie Jones said...

Oh gosh, that's so scary! Down here in Alabama, we got frozen/iced/snowed in for 2 1/2 days a few weeks ago because we don't have salt or plows or know how to drive in it, and getting one that first time while it was all still coming down was TERRIFYING. Even with my husband driving. Sigh. Here's to a much better week starting now!

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