So yesterday I got to the massive Secaucus train station
Park & Lock at 6:36AM…at least that’s what my claim ticket said. I
got there early enough to get a good spot up against the walkway closer to the
station. I’m in the zone, I get out of my car, walk around the passenger
side, grab my knapsack that feels like it has a bowling ball in it, and head
for the train.
I return in the evening, racing past a number of people who
are also heading to the parking lot. I’m going to get there first, avoid
the long payment lines and get on the road. I pay my fee and briskly walk
towards my car. My car is not
there. I double back a couple of times checking my sanity but I
know I parked in this particular area. I finally come to the conclusion
that, “Ah Crap, someone stole my car!”
I’m super pissed now and sweating bullets. I
head to the valet guys by the payment area and break the bad news that it looks
like my car has been stolen. My point person, a guy who looks to be in his
early 30s tells me not to worry, this happens all the time. Not
that cars are stolen, but people forget where they’ve parked their car. I
assure him I know where I parked my car, and I really just want him to call the
police. Instead, we walk up and down the area where I said I parked my
car clicking away at my keyless remote fob- (2015 Mazda CX5). We find
nothing. Now I can see my new associate eyeing me up and down. I
can tell he’s thinking I’m either a geriatric or a lush and can’t remember where
I parked my car. First he questions me and says well maybe you came in,
left and came back later and parked somewhere else. My first thought is,
why in God’s name would anybody do that, but I show him my time-stamped
ticket. He’s not satisfied and decides to take me on a tour of the whole
parking lot as we look for my car. He begins picking out random cars
asking me if they might be mine. My patience is paper-thin and I decide
to call my wife…Did I just say that?
I call my wife and explain the situation and ask her to text
me the Vin and license plate number of the car. I figure I’m going to
need that info when the police arrive. My wife is having problems finding
the info which is not endearing her to me. Then she asks me, “But now
they have our address and a garage door opener, what are we going to do?”
It was probably only a one or two second mental pause, but I collected myself,
valiantly fought off the desire to say the first thought that came to my mind
and said good bye.
In the end, my tormentor asked for
my key, held it up in the air and pressed down on the lock button and said, I
think I hear something over there…pointing to the valet area. I think
he’s lost it because I've told him no less than five times that I didn’t park my car in valet. We walk over, and
there’s my car...parked in the valet area. A couple of the valet crew are
standing around with big smiles on their faces. It’s almost as if they’ve
been waiting for me. They tell me that in the morning they found the car
running with the door open, so they brought it over to the valet
area. I’m super relieved, but feel like an idiot. I pass out
a couple of $20 bills to my new friends, and then the guy who took me on the
3-hour tour says, “Oh that’s right, I was here this morning when that happened…but
I just forgot about it.”
HAPPY
LABOR DAY WEEKEND!
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