Friday, July 4, 2008
So on Friday, the 4th of July I got up at 5am so I would be ready when Kristen and Joe came to pick me up. We were driving Pensacola for a 5K. Brian couldn't help but wonder why we had to drive all the way to Pensacola... for just a 5K. I reaplied... "uh, I dunno" Anyway, it was a good little run, Kristen and I took 2nd and 3rd in our age group, then we did a couple of extra miles and headed home.
Once we got back, I just had them drop me at the marina, where Brian and Riley were going to go boating and tubing with some friends, and I was commandeering Jackson for a quiet morning at home. This took some convincing on my part. Jackson was quite perplexed that Dad and Riley were getting on the boat, while he was staying behind. So, I promised him he could watch Mickey Mouse, and we headed for home.
There's only so much Mickey I can take, and eventually, I got bored and ventured out to clean my car (for those of you that know me well... STOP THAT SNIDE LOOK OF SURPRISE!) We're at the end of blueberry season, and there's a sufficiently large number of them that have accumulated on the floorboards and under the car seats (where they are keeping the fuzzy raisins and apple slices company) that I've begun to be dismayed by them. Jackson came out with me, and I rolled down all the windows and started working. This lasted not very long at all, as I soon realized it was far too big a job for the driveway. So, I buckled Jackson in - wearing only a t-shirt and mickey mouse underwear, and headed for the 4$ car wash - with free vacuums.
I figured they might have an issue with me bypassing the 4$ part and simply utilizing the free vacuums, so I played along and actually washed the car, too. Had to roll up the windows for that, though... and turn up "The Sound of Music" to keep Jackson from freaking out when the large bubbly squidlike creatures descended upon the car and totally blocked out the light. He did relatively well, although it clearly made him nervous. (and "The Sound of Music" did help a bit... maybe that was what Captain Nemo should have tried first.)
Once we made it to the vacuums, I left Jackson in his car seat and tackled the fuzzy bluberries (there was also a dizzying quantity of sand, but I suppose that's to be expected in Florida). After completing as much of the car as I could, I reluctantly let Jackson out of his car seat so that I could remove it and thereby the copious fermented snack food he has stashed under it. There was a grassy area nearby, and I thought it would be perfect for Jackson to play in while I finished up. Well, that lasted about 30 seconds - then Jackson decided the parked cars were much more fun to meander between, so I threw him in the front seat while I tackled the back. He loves the car. There's so many buttons and lights, and he punctuates the punching of buttons with shrieks of "VROOM VROOM" while at the steering wheel. I finally finished up the vacuuming, and closed up my side of the car so that I could retrieve Jackson's car seat from the grass and get on our way.
It was then that I heard an oh-so-ominous "click-click".
Yup, you know EXACTLY the "click-click" that I mean. The one that occurs as all the car doors are locked by your 2 year old who is still sitting in the car with both sets of keys (I'd just found one of them while cleaning the car) and my cell phone.
Did I mention that this was the 4th of July in FLORIDA! It was only about 83 degrees, the windows are tinted, I had parked under an awning, and left the fan (but not the engine) running. I had a little time to work with. Unfortunately, I think I squandered a good 5 minutes of it yelling "Jackson, press the button! Yes! That one! No! The other one! There! No , over there" While Jackson giggled and bounced about, singing along to "Climb Every Mountain".
I eventually realized he was not going to press the right one, and went to find the car wash attendant.
"My 2 year old is locked in the car. Could you please call a locksmith?"
"Uh, I don't know. Which one?"
Let me rephrase "My 2 year old is locked in the car. Could you please call a locksmith?"
"Uhm, I need to talk to my manager"
No, really, My 2 year old is locked in the car. Call a locksmith, any locksmith"
At which point I ran back to the car to supervise Jackson playing "Vroom Vroom" at the steering wheel.
The manager showed up, and said that the locksmith was on his way, and would be there in about 20 minutes. He'd also called the police, who don't do locked cars, but had suggested calling the fire department. We did that.
Then everyone went absolutely nuts. Suddently it became and emergency to get Jackson out NOW. The manager offered a sledge hammer to break a window, I demurred. It was implied that even though it would be expensive, maybe I should break out a window. No one seemed to realize that it wasn't the expense, it was the thought of showering my 2 year old with shards of glass while he's in an enclosed space. After much hand wringing, I called Brian to see if he had any other ideas... and mostly just to hear a calm voice and forewarn him that the car might be one window short when he arrived home. He seemed okay with the plan, so I reluctantly had the manager bring his sledgehammer. Turns out that those windows don't break as easily as you think they would. After my second hit (albeit probably a little half-heartedly) I was very relieved to hear and see the firetruck pull up. Yay! Surely they have one of those slim-jim thing-a-ma-bobs. The entire 5 man crew jumped out and swaggered towards my car.... one of them toting a medieval appearing mace-like hammer (and in my memory he was repetitively swinging it into his palm while eyeing my car windows with a lusty glint in his eye, but I suspect I'm making that part up). Meanwhile, Jackson is contentedly removing and reloading every CD in the disc-changer.
"Which window do you want me to break open, Ma'am?"
"Ah, preferably the one FURTHEST FROM THE 2 YEAR OLD!"
Then he singled out a back window and went to take a swing.... and Jackson decided to check out all the commotion in the back seat.
"WAIT! WAIT!" I shriek, and really start to rethink this shattering glass thing. The manager informs me that the locksmith is 1 minute away. The guy with the sledge hammer drawls "Well, it's YOUR call Ma'am, BUT HE SURE LOOKS HOT."
And he did look hot, he was very sweaty and PLAYING PEEK-A-BOO - no distress in sight.
Finally, one of the older Firefighters commented "Ma'am, he looks FINE. It's okay to wait for the locksmith"
The locksmith finally arrived (actually, 2 arrived), and as they were opening the car I couldn't help but notice about 30 people were standing around - including a police man and his police car, the 5 from the fire truck, and then 3 from the Ambulance.
When the locksmith got the car open, one of the firefighters lifted Jackson out and handed him to me. He was hot. He was also very intrigued by all the vehicles surrounding ours. We re-convened to the car wash office, where I plopped Jackson in the office chair and peeled of his sweaty shirt (and I suspect his pants were wet with more than sweat... mostly because shortly after he locked himself in the car he was holding the front of his pants and shouting "potty! potty!" But I didn't feel the need to share this suspicion). They got him some water from the cooler and looked him over (quite literally, I was hoping they'd at least take his temperature, but Jackson was way too interested in the "bloop bloop" noise that the water cooler made after dispensing water to sit still. Then I had to give them our names for their report...
"Gwinnup? That sounds familiar... Hey! Aren't you a pediatrician or something?"
"Well, no, actually, I'm Family Medicine... my clinic is just down the street... " I mumbled
So we're all fine. Although it took me a while to recover. Jackson had a grand time. And the locksmith refused to charge me anything. I got his card, though. I really need to send him a check.
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