TODAY: Speeding down the highway, on my way to work, when suddenly the car starts shaking and it sounds like there's a helicopter flying over the car. I actually looked up at the sky to see if there WAS a helicopter. But no. Not a helicopter. I started pulling over to the side of the road because it dawned on me that this MIGHT be a flat tire (I've never had one before). It was a little difficult/scary because it was hard to control the car, but I made it and put on my hazard lights. I got out and looked at all the tires and found the culprit. Not just a flat tire...a completely shredded, blown out tire.
Since it was James' car that I was driving, I called James. It immediately went to voicemail so I left him a panicked message about what had happened. Then I called work and told the girl working the front desk what had happened (her reaction: "You had a blowout on the highway? Oh, HELL NO, girl!"), and said I'd try and make it into work as soon as I could. I called James again; it went straight to voicemail. I realized that his phone must have died and he wasn't aware of it yet. My mind went into panic mode and I started calling EVERYONE I could think of that lives in the same city James does to go knock on his door and tell him to answer his phone. As if by some phenomenon, NOBODY answered their phone. I even used the internet on my phone to try and look up the number of the family James lives with. Nothing. I found the address, but not the number. I ended up calling my dad and telling him what was going on. He said he'd come get me to take me to work, and we'd just leave the car on the side of the road. He said if he couldn't get ahold of James he'd call a tow truck to get it towed. I didn't like the thought of the car getting towed without James' knowledge or consent, but it didn't seem like there was any other choice. I'd checked for a spare tire but hadn't found one. While I was calling around, a guy in a van pulled up and asked if I was ok; asked if he could take me somewhere to get a spare tire. He didn't seem creepy in the first place, but he also said, "I'm not trying to force myself on you...I'm a nice LDS guy!" which made me laugh. I told him thank you - but I was ok because my dad was coming. Shortly after, a Highway Patrol man came by and said pretty much the same thing. Asked if I was ok, if I had a spare. He was really nice. Soon after that, my dad came and picked me up and we left the car. I went into work and was really upset about leaving the car on the highway, the thought of having to get it towed and how much that would cost, wondering how I'd be getting home tonight, and not being able to get ahold of James to let him know all this was going on. I was talking to some of the girls I work with about it and started crying, so one of the girls offered to take over my shift since she was going to be sent home anyway because they didn't need her as a server. We cleared it with my manager and I left to start walking to my dad's house. I called James while walking and, to my relief, he answered! I told him what was going on and he apologized and said his phone had died and he didn't know where it was. He drove up on his motorcycle and met me and my dad at his car on the side of the highway. Turns out he DID have a spare tire but it was one of those sneaky ones underneath the carpet in his trunk. I'm a girl, I have no idea about this kind of stuff. Where to look for a spare. However, after today I now know how to change a tire! So, it ended up being a pretty stressful day, but I know I was blessed in a lot of ways too. It was one of the rear tires that blew out, which is better than if it had been a front one. That would have been very dangerous. Also, when the tire blew, I was able to keep fairly good control of the car instead of it spinning out or something. And, pretty miraculously, I was able to get over to the side of the highway quickly without there being a lot of traffic. There was somebody at work who was readily able to cover my shift so I could focus on getting the car thing taken care of instead of worrying about it for the next 9 hours while I worked. So, yes, crappy stressful day, but there were also many blessings which I'm thankful for. Everyone is safe, which is the most important thing!
And I can't think of a good way to end this so I'll just say: Thanks, God, for helping me out today :)
