Have You Ever Had Trouble With Your Automobile?

You're sick of hearing about what a bad friend I am. And if you are my friend, you're sick of having to deal with it.

Allie is one such friend. We went from seeing each other almost every day when we worked together to the situation we are in now: I have not hung out with Allie since February.

Sure, that night was fun-packed enough to last a lifetime, but you can never have too much Allie time.

We finally arranged to hang out a couple of days ago. We met at On the Border where, as usual, Allie knew half the people there.

Our waiter came over and chatted with her. "Yeah I drove by that pond the other day and laughed. You know--the pond you drove your car into?"

"You wha--?" I was nearly speechless.

"Oh. Ha. Thanks!" Allie was turning red.

"How have I not heard this story?" I've heard a lot of embarrassing Allie stories.

"i just kinda drove my car into a pond and it had to be towed out. Anyway, moving on . . ."

"No way! you can't just sum that up so quickly! I need the whole story!"

Allie had just been inducted into the National Honor Society and was supposed to attend her first meeting. Her sponsor, knowing how Allie sometimes likes to be fashionably late, ordered her to be on time.

That morning, Allie rushed her brother out the door and into the car. She was running late.

As she sped down the road, she realized she still had two lights to go through. She didn't feel she could take the chance and decided to take what she thought was a shortcut.

I have no idea why she thought it was a shortcut. Her brother was equally confused.

"What are you doing?" He yelled as she made the split-second decision and yanked the wheel, steering the car directly into a pond.

"I didn't think it was that deep!" She explained to me.

Apparently waist-high water is deep enough and the engine stalled. "And then it started smoking!"

She and her brother rushed to roll down the windows. They tossed their backpacks on the roof and then climbed on top of the car.

Allie called her dad. "Hey Dad. I'm having some car trouble."

That's when I really lost it. Just a wee problem, Daddio!

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"We're fine."

"What happened?"

"The car won't start."

Yeah. Who knows why?

Her Dad set out to come help. Soon after Allie hung up, a carload of her friends stopped on their way to the meeting. They were also late. "What happened?"

Allie and her brother waded to the other side of the pond so they could hitch a ride. "My dad should be here soon. Let's wait for him."

Soon enough, Allie's dad showed up back on the other side of the pond. "Hey Dad!"

"ALLISON!"

"I gotta get to school!" She called. "Love you!"

The List grows even longer!