The Mall Diva went out of town overnight with some friends last Sunday, leaving her car parked on a St. Paul street outside the house they all had left from. Sunday evening St. Paul declared a snow emergency, and the owner of the home notified the Diva that her car could get towed if it wasn’t moved.
No problem. She called home and asked if someone could get her second key and drive over to her car and move it. Well, one problem: neither she or anyone here knew where that second key was. A messy search of all likely and unlikely places was fruitless (and keyless). Hmmm, what to do?
Just leave it and let the city tow it? No, the towing fee and the ensuing impound fees (since she wouldn’t be back until Tuesday morning) made the expense prohibitive (not to mention incredibly inconvenient).
The car has a keypad door lock; perhaps I could get a couple of people, we could go to the car, open the door, put it in neutral and push it into the driveway? No, the car couldn’t be shifted without a key in the ignition.
Wait a minute, we have family coverage from Triple-A for our cars! I called the company and inquired about getting a tow on a snowy night when there had to be lots of cars in ditches. Sure, they said, they could get a truck over there in three, maybe five, hours but they’d either have to tow the car to a garage or back to our house; they couldn’t tow it 25 feet into a private driveway.
So be it. Now we just had to hope that the AAA driver got to the car before the city driver did. As it was already about 10 p.m. we’d have to go to bed and wait until morning to see who won.
Waking up Monday morning, it was with Christmas-like anticipation that I went downstairs to see if there was something in the driveway. Hallelujah! Peace on Earth! Good will toward men! The Diva’s car was nestled in the driveway, in front of the garage door, leaving just enough room for me to back my car out and get around hers! Better yet, not even a parking ticket! Best of all, the towing was free under our AAA plan!
Others weren’t as fortunate.
I’ve never taken the time to figure out the dollar amount of what I’m ahead by having AAA; but, it must be an amazing figure.
AAA charge $0
Helping your darlin daughter in a jam: priceless