Have you ever done something that really made you think you were “losing it?”
I got a call from Eva; she was laughing hysterically. “I’m texting you a picture,” she said, then followed that with, “Have you ever done something so embarrassing that you hoped no one witnessed it? But then, realized it was so stupid, you wish someone had, so that you could laugh about it?” Before she told me what happened, I merely said, “Call Janine.”
Janine was recently in a store somewhere, and had to produce her driver’s license to a cashier. The cashier told her that her license was expired by about a year. Flushed with panic, Janine drove home at about 20 miles an hour, and called the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to discuss the matter.
Since her license had expired over six months ago, she learned she had to apply for her temps, which required studying a manual, and then taking a written test, and upon passing that, taking a driving test.
(Can you imagine how many driving rules have changed in 40 years?) In the meantime, she was not allowed to drive – not even to work. She paced wondering how she would get to work, the grocery or any other place she might have to go for the next six weeks. Of course, we girls who had been notified of this travesty rallied behind her, and were ready to organize a driving schedule.
In the meantime, Janine wrung her hands with worry. She had told Mootsie what happened, and Mootsie confessed that the very same thing had happened to her husband, and that he flunked the driving part of the test the first time for a minor infraction – “Boy were they ever picky!” One must wait two weeks before being retested for the driving leg of the exam.
Janine, near tears, considered taking a Xanax, then casually took another look at her driver’s license.
“Yep,” she thought, the license expired in December of 2013…then, “Wait a minute!” December, 2013 hasn’t happened yet! Waves of relief overcame her. The cashier had obviously misread the date on her license, and Janine had not bothered to confirm it! Laughter displaced worry, so instead of a Xanax, she danced around the kitchen table.
Meanwhile, Eva had been using an electric leaf blower to clean up her driveway, and the long, casual dress she was wearing got caught in the fan of the blower. She turned the blower off and tugged, and the dress came free. “Whew,” she thought…”close one.” She went back to blowing leaves, and yep…you guessed it! Her dress was caught a second time. This time, however, it was really stuck and required her to cut her dress in order to become free of the blower. Sick over the loss of a good dress, she finished the job wearing shorts. From what I could tell in the photo, the dress is history!
Laughter is the best medicine in the face of “crazy,” but girls, do NOT let your driver’s license expire, and you might consider hiring a gardener!
See you next Tuesday!
Read more posts by Claire Butler, blogger for JenningsWire.
