How My Honda Failed Halloween
Last night, I went to my first Halloween Parade in who knows how long... I went because the parade route passed right in front of Dave's place - so it seemed good to step to the end of the driveway and watch. I stood next to an older couple. The husband - likely in his mid 70's - was wearing a moose hat - the kind that surrounded his face like a ski mask. Atop his head, two plush antlers protruded - and the moose nose grew out of the man's forehead. I thought it was cute that he came to the parade in costume. Most adults didn't.
"That's a nice hat," I commented.
"You know," He replied, "This is the best hat. I was somewhere last year where it was so cold, that only this hat would keep me warm. It covers my whole face and chin, as you can see."
Oh. So I was wrong about the costume aspect of the hat. This was common winter wear. My mistake.
His wife was really sweet. I thought it was kind of fun that she brought her digital camera - and spent the evening taking shots of the unadorned fire trucks and requesite ambulances that drove by (I have to note here that unadorned municipal vehicles in parades have always baffled me. I want bands, dancing, singing and floats - with the occasional Macy's-type balloon floating by...)
Anyway, the parade went like this: Ambulance, Fire truck, cop car.... big gap (10 minutes)... Ambulance, Jr. High Marching band that looked cold, police car.... cub scout pack, pack of adults not in costume with a small sign that I couldn't read... The mayor in a classic convertible (huddled in the front seat by the heater).... High school band... Then occasionally, a Brownie troop would go by, tossing candy. One even threw a piece of candy at the lady I was standing next to.
I went to get Dave, who was still in his house. He wasn't into standing in the cold. As I was leaving, a man approached the door. "Hi, I'm from (blah blah) Tow truck service, and we're pulling a float, and we've got a dead battery... Can you give us a jump, if you happen to have cables?"
Do I have cables???!!! I have an excellent set of jumper cables... Because I used to have an '83 Toyota that I commonly left the lights on... My father was so sick of hearing stories of how I got my car started, that I received my very own Jumper cables for Christmas that year. "Why, yes, I have cables." I answered.
To make a long story short, my car apparently didn't have enough juice to start the tow truck. (Isn't the irony just amazing?) - It actually took a fire truck to jumpstart the tow truck.
After that, some girl scouts threw me a Butterfinger, and this gummy candy that was shaped like a disembodied and bloody ear (who knew David Lynch was now making candy???) There were some other candies thrown but some boys at the side of the road scooped them up before I could get them and lobbed them back at the screaming girlscouts.
I was too cold to stay outside watching the poor kids freeze their little baton-twirlig butts off - so I went inside, where Dave was watching TV. "Dave!" I exclaimed... I tried to jumpstart a tow truck!"
"Really?"
"Yes, but it didn't work..." I can't help but think that my Honda failed Halloween.
"That's a nice hat," I commented.
"You know," He replied, "This is the best hat. I was somewhere last year where it was so cold, that only this hat would keep me warm. It covers my whole face and chin, as you can see."
Oh. So I was wrong about the costume aspect of the hat. This was common winter wear. My mistake.
His wife was really sweet. I thought it was kind of fun that she brought her digital camera - and spent the evening taking shots of the unadorned fire trucks and requesite ambulances that drove by (I have to note here that unadorned municipal vehicles in parades have always baffled me. I want bands, dancing, singing and floats - with the occasional Macy's-type balloon floating by...)
Anyway, the parade went like this: Ambulance, Fire truck, cop car.... big gap (10 minutes)... Ambulance, Jr. High Marching band that looked cold, police car.... cub scout pack, pack of adults not in costume with a small sign that I couldn't read... The mayor in a classic convertible (huddled in the front seat by the heater).... High school band... Then occasionally, a Brownie troop would go by, tossing candy. One even threw a piece of candy at the lady I was standing next to.
I went to get Dave, who was still in his house. He wasn't into standing in the cold. As I was leaving, a man approached the door. "Hi, I'm from (blah blah) Tow truck service, and we're pulling a float, and we've got a dead battery... Can you give us a jump, if you happen to have cables?"
Do I have cables???!!! I have an excellent set of jumper cables... Because I used to have an '83 Toyota that I commonly left the lights on... My father was so sick of hearing stories of how I got my car started, that I received my very own Jumper cables for Christmas that year. "Why, yes, I have cables." I answered.
To make a long story short, my car apparently didn't have enough juice to start the tow truck. (Isn't the irony just amazing?) - It actually took a fire truck to jumpstart the tow truck.
After that, some girl scouts threw me a Butterfinger, and this gummy candy that was shaped like a disembodied and bloody ear (who knew David Lynch was now making candy???) There were some other candies thrown but some boys at the side of the road scooped them up before I could get them and lobbed them back at the screaming girlscouts.
I was too cold to stay outside watching the poor kids freeze their little baton-twirlig butts off - so I went inside, where Dave was watching TV. "Dave!" I exclaimed... I tried to jumpstart a tow truck!"
"Really?"
"Yes, but it didn't work..." I can't help but think that my Honda failed Halloween.
Labels: Miscellaneous Hoo Hah
posted by Kell @ 6:03 AM
1 Comments:
At 6:50 PM,
Anonymous said…
That happened to me, too. It's too far gone now to remember clearly, but either it was my car trying to jump someone else's, or vice versa. I kept thinking we had the cables on the wrong posts. Finally we got AAA to come and the car roared to life. Sometimes you need a big truck in your life.
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