The Day My Car Was Stolen
I live in the far-suburbs, yet, I love Manhattan's energy, spirit, food, shows, people....
I am grateful the dirty, scary, crime-ridden city of years past has become a cleaner, greener, safer place to live and work. Now I know how they have the financial resources!
My comprehensive understanding of this innovative, creative, money making plan began the other day when I drove into the city for a lunch-meeting with colleagues and then stopped to unload some packing supplies for my cousin. The timing of this whole series of events seemed just perfect! It was even restaurant week making possible a magical lunch of calamari and skate wings! I was still smiling as I stopped to unload my little red car under the little red sign. I was clearly unloading even though I was clearly not a truck!
Then, full of calamari and camaraderie, I unloaded my boxes and went straight to work unlocking, unpacking, writing-a-note, measuring a fan, and checking an air-conditioner. In the New York Minute (or so) it took to unload (unlock, unpack, write-a-note, measure a fan, and check an air-conditioner) my little red car was stolen! My disbelief and sense of violation were profound. I called the police and reported her stolen (thank goodness I noticed the license plate number in the parking garage earlier). Amazingly, the 911 responder did not seem particularly concerned and suggested I to go down to the street and wait for a police to circle by! She also suggested I call to see if my car had been towed. So, I did.
I cancelled the rest of my plans for the day, called everyone I knew, and schemed plans to get home. Then, an angel of mercy drove up on a motor cycle, overheard my tale of woe, and laughed that his bike was towed at least once a week! "Just go on down to 36th and West Side Highway," he said, "I guarantee your car is there."
In my good-little-girl-from the suburbs voice, I tried to explain that I had already called and was told my car was not there! With an angel-of-mercy voice, he replied, "You'll wait 24 hours of more to get it in the system. Just go down. Take a cab. Walk, it's beautiful. They are really nice, down there. You will be on the road in no time."
So, I walked to the pound, not sure if it was wise to leave my waiting-for-the-police-to-come spot. Yet, the motor-cycle-riding-angel's idea seemed right. It was a lovely afternoon and the sights and sounds of Manhattan re-energized me! It was easy to find my destination as a line of tow trucks (with cars attached) lead me straight there. The people were indeed as nice as can be (under the circumstances) as I handed over my debit card to reclaim my car. The people waiting were friendly and talkative and somehow, instead of being mad at the system, we all seemed to be grateful that our cars were safely impounded!
I was already feeling grateful to know my car was safe as I went into the air-plane hanger sized pound with Hudson River views to drive my car home; however, the last of the car-pound-concierges put a smile of my face with a line I suspect he says a thousand times (at least) a day, "I hope we don't see you around here again too soon!"
I am pretty sure there are several "morals" to this story.
1) We could fund schools, pay teachers, and never have to worry about tax caps if we could come up with a similar scheme! ( I have some ideas and will share them in another post!)
2) When your friends, children, or spouse get a ticket or has their car towed, try to be understanding rather than critical!
PS. They were caught stealing another car during my cousin's move!
I am grateful the dirty, scary, crime-ridden city of years past has become a cleaner, greener, safer place to live and work. Now I know how they have the financial resources!
My comprehensive understanding of this innovative, creative, money making plan began the other day when I drove into the city for a lunch-meeting with colleagues and then stopped to unload some packing supplies for my cousin. The timing of this whole series of events seemed just perfect! It was even restaurant week making possible a magical lunch of calamari and skate wings! I was still smiling as I stopped to unload my little red car under the little red sign. I was clearly unloading even though I was clearly not a truck! Then, full of calamari and camaraderie, I unloaded my boxes and went straight to work unlocking, unpacking, writing-a-note, measuring a fan, and checking an air-conditioner. In the New York Minute (or so) it took to unload (unlock, unpack, write-a-note, measure a fan, and check an air-conditioner) my little red car was stolen! My disbelief and sense of violation were profound. I called the police and reported her stolen (thank goodness I noticed the license plate number in the parking garage earlier). Amazingly, the 911 responder did not seem particularly concerned and suggested I to go down to the street and wait for a police to circle by! She also suggested I call to see if my car had been towed. So, I did.
I cancelled the rest of my plans for the day, called everyone I knew, and schemed plans to get home. Then, an angel of mercy drove up on a motor cycle, overheard my tale of woe, and laughed that his bike was towed at least once a week! "Just go on down to 36th and West Side Highway," he said, "I guarantee your car is there."
In my good-little-girl-from the suburbs voice, I tried to explain that I had already called and was told my car was not there! With an angel-of-mercy voice, he replied, "You'll wait 24 hours of more to get it in the system. Just go down. Take a cab. Walk, it's beautiful. They are really nice, down there. You will be on the road in no time."
So, I walked to the pound, not sure if it was wise to leave my waiting-for-the-police-to-come spot. Yet, the motor-cycle-riding-angel's idea seemed right. It was a lovely afternoon and the sights and sounds of Manhattan re-energized me! It was easy to find my destination as a line of tow trucks (with cars attached) lead me straight there. The people were indeed as nice as can be (under the circumstances) as I handed over my debit card to reclaim my car. The people waiting were friendly and talkative and somehow, instead of being mad at the system, we all seemed to be grateful that our cars were safely impounded!
I was already feeling grateful to know my car was safe as I went into the air-plane hanger sized pound with Hudson River views to drive my car home; however, the last of the car-pound-concierges put a smile of my face with a line I suspect he says a thousand times (at least) a day, "I hope we don't see you around here again too soon!"
I am pretty sure there are several "morals" to this story.
1) We could fund schools, pay teachers, and never have to worry about tax caps if we could come up with a similar scheme! ( I have some ideas and will share them in another post!)
2) When your friends, children, or spouse get a ticket or has their car towed, try to be understanding rather than critical!
PS. They were caught stealing another car during my cousin's move!
2 comments:
Anita,
Tour tale of woe is just not right! I am sickened to hear about this total scam and I think it's sad that the city is clearly taking advantage of unsuspecting victims! Glad to hear you got your car back! What next in the name of money? How much did you pay?
While I paid too much for this experience, the amazing part was that I was so happy to find my car I forked over the debit card readily! If only we could find a way to fund schools in this manner....and make people think they are happy to fork over money!
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