Late to Work

This morning I woke up a few minutes before my cell phone alarm usually goes off. When it didn’t go off I went to look for my phone and purse and came to the realization that I left it in the car last night that Thurm took to work an hour earlier. My purse had all my money, my phone, and my keys. My first thought was to get a taxi to take to work… oh wait, no money, no phone to call one. So I walked over the Sinclair and tried to use a pay phone (it was out of order) but ended up using their store phone. (Side Note: I was a little intimidated to use a pay phone. I’ve only used one few times in my life and they were mostly in a foreign country, which is a nightmare to try and figure out. I don’t think I’ve ever made a call from a pay phone successfully by myself). Anyway, I called work and told them I’d try to find a way to get to work, but don’t expect me in unless they heard back from me. I called Thurm who had the brilliant idea of riding the bus. I looked it up on the internet (thank goodness for the world wide web) and found a route that would take me 1 hour 45 mins (if all ran smoothly) and 3 bus changes. How is it possible that people use public transportation every day of their lives? Running one errand would take up your whole night! I found $3.00 in change lying around the house, which was enough to make it to work and back on the bus. Luckily, a co-worker, who I had emailed about not coming into work today, offered to come pick me and took me to work. With no traffic it only took up a half-hour out of her day, but I still felt bad and like a total space cadet.

The point of this story is I felt completely lost without my phone and a car. I am so used to being completely independent and never needing to rely on anyone or anything but myself, that I didn’t know what to do besides stay at home for the rest of the day. I don’t have any phone numbers memorized because they are just programmed into my phone. I wouldn’t even know who to call because Thurm and I have been living in marriage bliss for the last 6 months and haven’t made any friends in the neighborhood. And what friends I do have in SLC I haven’t kept in touch with because again “marriage bliss.” I always use a debit card, so I don’t keep cash lying around the house. Whine, whine, whine. I realize that this all sounds so “American Middle Class.” And I have lived without a phone and a car before and I’ve done just fine. It just really through me for a loop this morning. It made me very grateful for the conveniences I have. And I have made a vow to use public transportation to run an errand, make a list of phone numbers to keep at my house and at work, and to keep a $20 bill in my underwear drawer.