It had been raining on and off the whole day. As I stepped out the building I hear a loud rumble that it’s warning me that more rain is on the way. I was pretty much running (which is a big feat for me on itself) out the office as my oldest son had a doctor’s appointment and I still had to drive 63 miles, get him and get to the doctor’s on time. “Atlanta traffic be dammed – move over, I’m on a mission!” I said gently to myself.

 

As I’m getting to the corner of the building, I see something red on the concrete as I was about to step off the sidewalk. “What was that?” – I mumbled.

 

You know I was going to notice something red, not because it catches the eye, but because it is my favorite color. After my double take, I bend over (Oh! The effort on that just about killed me – I’m so out of shape) and I pick up a car key, with the automatic lock thingy and a dealer description tag – Toyota of Atlanta – Scion.

 

A quick scan of the parking lot helps me to immediately locate the car. I was glad it was the sedan, as the other “boxy” models are so ugly they get on my nervesI did not want to hit the panic or lock/unlock buttons, because I did not want anyone to see me and accuse me of trying to take this beautiful, brand new smelling, no roof – but a glass roof!, gas saving (we could use one of these) CAR. Upon closer inspection, there was a lady’s purse (a Dooney exactly the one I’ve been wanting since spring), a laptop, and another bag in the backseat. Can I trade the keys for the purse, at least? Do you think she would mind much?

 

Oh, Hell No! What was I thinking?

 

What to do – time is ticking. I had to leave if I wanted to beat traffic. In our building, we do not have a doorman, receptionist, I mean, NOTHING. Not a damned person that I could leave the keys with. It’s the end of the day, so I could not take them with me ‘cause they were going to need them that evening. And as my luck goes, I drove in to work, so how could I manage to take 2 vehicles home with me at the same time? ***Just Kiddin’***

 

I called my friend Nicki, whose suggestion of leaving the keys outside, on the door lock – I did not follow. It was a stupid suggestion. There are far too many people out there who are not as honest as I am and would not hesitate to take the car and everything else in it – in less than a heartbeat. I told Nicki that instead of leaving the keys on the door, I was going to quickly open the door and put the keys on the driver’s seat. To Nicki’s excuse, she had a horrible day at work and I’m sure the last thing she wanted to hear was my dilemma about this car.

 

So I open the car door and it hits me – new car smell!  It’s there any other smell (other than a baby) that smells better than this? I forced myself to break the spell, and threw the keys on the seat. Almost locked the dammed thing (habit!) but didn’t. I closed the door and silently walked away – almost mad with myself for not being able to make the wrong choice. Why do I have to be so freakin’ good of a person?

 

As I was getting into my dirty, old SUV, I said to God – “I hope you were watching and I don’t wanna hear later that you were on a bathroom break – Got that?. These are extra points for Heaven and I want to cash them now: Can you please find some buyers for my house, like right now?

 

Suddenly, I hear another rumble, and then it started to rain. I guess God decided to show me LOVE as he was peeing on me from the skyes above.