a gift for gift. and driving solo is ok, but parking?
for giftofwings:
in return for, and a result of, your kindness - one of my MOST favourite songs.
this is the song.
------------------------------------------------------------------
i muster the courage to drive, ALL BY MYSELF, to a meeting that i have to go for. the venue is barely 10 min away. i get there without much hassle (well, the other drivers on the road may have been hassled by my erratic changes in speed, sudden braking, wrong indicators etc...but i manage to not let it bother me :)).
i get to the venue and start looking for parking, and there i see it...it's a miracle! in 1 min flat, i find myself a space, and that too one that's actually large enough for the car. AND, there's no "no-parking sign". god loves me! i park purrrfectly, and my heart has stopped thumping and is now singing.
i walk with a spring in my stride towards the building for my meeting. i walk out after, the spring even bouncier thanks to a very satisfying exchange of ideas. and then i think, hmm...i have time. might as well do groceries. so i hop into the store 2 min away from where the car is parked. along with getting the mundane stuff, i treat myself to delicious dark chocolate to congratulate myself on my brilliant driving and parking.
i come out of the store, bouncing and singing, and take 3 steps towards the car, and oh...what's that?
a policeman.
hovering around a car which looks suspiciously like the one i arrived in. nah, can't be. of course it is. deep breath. the bounce and the stride have disappeared. but i confidently walk towards the car and unlock, pretending he doesn't exist.
he: "madame, c'est votre voiture?"
me: "oui", i smile.
and then it turns out that i have parked in a 'no parking' space. in fact, in the whole line of neatly parked cars, mine is the SOLE place that's off-limits for parking. god hates me, of course.
so i hand him my "permis de provisoire" and tell him sheepishly (in slow and inaccurate french) that this is the first time i have driven by myself, and i'm already in trouble. he nods, with barely a hint of a smile.
i dump the bags in the car and look for the car papers, which he has politely asked for. oh, they aren't in the glove compartment. umm..ok, where can they be? s is paranoid about this and will NOT drive without them. so maybe they are in the boot? i rummage through all the unnecessary stuff lying there..AAH, THIS is where my brown coat is! but nope, no papers. so i tell him i can't find them, and will call my husband who knows where they are. i make 2 calls to s. unsurprisingly, he doesn't pick up (can't remember the last time he picked up my 1st call). right, this is great. 3 urgent messages, 2 more calls, 1 voicemail, and about 10 minutes later, the status hasn't changed. so i decide to have a tete-a-tete with the policeman.
i tell him that s is in the netherlands and i have tried to reach him and he will call back soon. in the meantime, could he please explain why this is a no-parking, cos i really did think i was doing the right thing, and i wouldn't want to repeat the same mistake. he suddenly looks thrilled that some random woman has requested a share of his vast and important knowledge. can i see the yellow line on the ground along the edge of the kerb? it's only along the length of the parking space where i've parked. THAT means it's no parking. AH! of course! silly me. i stifle my spontaneous question...how in the world is one supposed to see a yellow line on the RIGHT side of the road, on the ground, when u are in a left-hand drive car? it isn't even on eye-level! and then he asks me if it's a new car. he shoots a look of admiration towards the car, and then one that says "you SO don't deserve this", towards me. i silently reply with a look of hearty agreement, and he responds with one of genuine surprise. i agree i don't deserve this? he shakes his head. i look at my phone and silently curse s for not having called yet.
the policeman now tells me merrily that if i park like this during my practical exam, i will fail. thank you, like i didn't realise that already. and then he tells me that he was about to tow away my car, and getting it back along with the penalty for wrong parking would have cost me 150 euros. i'm genuinely horrified. i look at my phone again and ask him if he knows why husbands are so unreliable. he then just walks around the car, looks at his watch, and says that i can go. i'm amazed. i say "vraiment?? vous etes tres genteel!!!merci!". i ask him to wish me luck for furture parking. "bon chance", he smiles.
i get into the car, start the engine and s calls. i tell him crisis resolved. he asks me how. i say maybe god loves me after all :)
in return for, and a result of, your kindness - one of my MOST favourite songs.
this is the song.
------------------------------------------------------------------
i muster the courage to drive, ALL BY MYSELF, to a meeting that i have to go for. the venue is barely 10 min away. i get there without much hassle (well, the other drivers on the road may have been hassled by my erratic changes in speed, sudden braking, wrong indicators etc...but i manage to not let it bother me :)).
i get to the venue and start looking for parking, and there i see it...it's a miracle! in 1 min flat, i find myself a space, and that too one that's actually large enough for the car. AND, there's no "no-parking sign". god loves me! i park purrrfectly, and my heart has stopped thumping and is now singing.
i walk with a spring in my stride towards the building for my meeting. i walk out after, the spring even bouncier thanks to a very satisfying exchange of ideas. and then i think, hmm...i have time. might as well do groceries. so i hop into the store 2 min away from where the car is parked. along with getting the mundane stuff, i treat myself to delicious dark chocolate to congratulate myself on my brilliant driving and parking.
i come out of the store, bouncing and singing, and take 3 steps towards the car, and oh...what's that?
a policeman.
hovering around a car which looks suspiciously like the one i arrived in. nah, can't be. of course it is. deep breath. the bounce and the stride have disappeared. but i confidently walk towards the car and unlock, pretending he doesn't exist.
he: "madame, c'est votre voiture?"
me: "oui", i smile.
and then it turns out that i have parked in a 'no parking' space. in fact, in the whole line of neatly parked cars, mine is the SOLE place that's off-limits for parking. god hates me, of course.
so i hand him my "permis de provisoire" and tell him sheepishly (in slow and inaccurate french) that this is the first time i have driven by myself, and i'm already in trouble. he nods, with barely a hint of a smile.
i dump the bags in the car and look for the car papers, which he has politely asked for. oh, they aren't in the glove compartment. umm..ok, where can they be? s is paranoid about this and will NOT drive without them. so maybe they are in the boot? i rummage through all the unnecessary stuff lying there..AAH, THIS is where my brown coat is! but nope, no papers. so i tell him i can't find them, and will call my husband who knows where they are. i make 2 calls to s. unsurprisingly, he doesn't pick up (can't remember the last time he picked up my 1st call). right, this is great. 3 urgent messages, 2 more calls, 1 voicemail, and about 10 minutes later, the status hasn't changed. so i decide to have a tete-a-tete with the policeman.
i tell him that s is in the netherlands and i have tried to reach him and he will call back soon. in the meantime, could he please explain why this is a no-parking, cos i really did think i was doing the right thing, and i wouldn't want to repeat the same mistake. he suddenly looks thrilled that some random woman has requested a share of his vast and important knowledge. can i see the yellow line on the ground along the edge of the kerb? it's only along the length of the parking space where i've parked. THAT means it's no parking. AH! of course! silly me. i stifle my spontaneous question...how in the world is one supposed to see a yellow line on the RIGHT side of the road, on the ground, when u are in a left-hand drive car? it isn't even on eye-level! and then he asks me if it's a new car. he shoots a look of admiration towards the car, and then one that says "you SO don't deserve this", towards me. i silently reply with a look of hearty agreement, and he responds with one of genuine surprise. i agree i don't deserve this? he shakes his head. i look at my phone and silently curse s for not having called yet.
the policeman now tells me merrily that if i park like this during my practical exam, i will fail. thank you, like i didn't realise that already. and then he tells me that he was about to tow away my car, and getting it back along with the penalty for wrong parking would have cost me 150 euros. i'm genuinely horrified. i look at my phone again and ask him if he knows why husbands are so unreliable. he then just walks around the car, looks at his watch, and says that i can go. i'm amazed. i say "vraiment?? vous etes tres genteel!!!merci!". i ask him to wish me luck for furture parking. "bon chance", he smiles.
i get into the car, start the engine and s calls. i tell him crisis resolved. he asks me how. i say maybe god loves me after all :)
posted by sattva at 7:07 AM
13 Comments:
Lucky you! But if a guy had done the exact same thing...
Loved the poem on your last post btw.
-MT
mt, :) didn't think of that at all!
and glad u enjoyed my last post.
welcome to the world of sendspace, and be warned, its addictive. :)
if i tell you things i did when i had a baby-head...i was almost as bad!! kidding!! just know that its not your fault. :D
thanks for ur kind words :) as a teacher mus' say - *Good Job*! hehe
Very nice, Sattva. :):)
Anon was me, btw.
funny, funny.
might i point out, though, that those who share the road with you might be more concerned if you were erratically braking rather than breaking? this might not hold for any traveling companions, of course.
bvynaujfvb, :)
tr, HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! can't believe this!! u are the only honest person around...what were the rest of you doing, being polite???
now that i think of it, it's a wonder that's the only major boo-boo! u have NO idea what all i went through just to put up the song...am sure gift will agree :)
certainly not, rather I was unaware u r a geeky mac user :)))
g, :) thanks..even a bit of solace is solace :)
vb, the comment i addressed to 'bvynaujfvb' was originally meant for u. don't ask me how i managed to type the word verification!!
gift, :) like the policeman in this post, i think 'i SO don't deserve this'! still grappling with the world of mac!
Hahahaha....fab story and i love the way you write.
And judging from the small but consistent hilarities resulting from 'babyhead' (to use G's lingo), I'm thinking you'd better have this baby quick dude!
:) No, just kidding. Good luck for the driving test- will it be before or after little one has arrived?
what can i say, you have nice friends :-)
i sympathize with your uploading travails. you'll notice that i haven't put any music up in a while.
bm, pleasant surprise, thanks for visiting :) driving test can happen only a few months after baby arrives...till then, i'm supposed to 'practice' :)
tr, that's true actually...hear, u all :)
Post a Comment
<< Home