Fred Meyer Cart Guy

Sunday...6:45am…I roll back over really not wanting to get up. Too bad Puyallup is 30 min away and I have to be there by 8.

8:30am…Finally make it to my destination with only one missed exit, one large turn around and the gas gage at "E"

9:00am…Psych myself up for a day spent at the Car Show/8th grade fundraiser I am recruiting at.

1:30pm…Realized eating two hotdogs was too much for one day. Also realized that the van's battery was dead. Guess I'll be at my booth till the bitter end till the nice man who is running the show can jump me.

3:20pm…van back in action still reminding me that she is thirsty. Takes about a decade to find a 76 gas station that the school's card will work at. Turns out most of them are out of commission.

4:20pm…van back at Auburn. Me back in my car…let the errands begin. If I don't run errands today, they won't get done. Last week I was asleep as soon as I walked in the door thanks to jet lag and a brand new job…not conducive to getting anything accomplished in the evenings. Turns out I can get a lot done at 3:30am when I wake up for the day.

6:30pm…ding! last stop…Fred Meyer…check! My gas tank is no longer empty and neither is my refrigerator. I let the cart slam into the parking lot holder and I am headed home.

10:35pm…check the car twice, check the apartment three times, check my bag 18 times. Nope…no wallet to be found. Panic. Prayer. Pacing.

10:36pm…the cart slamming into the other cart at Fred Meyer runs slow motion through my head…OH NO!!!  Dread feeling hits…my wallet was in that cart…yelling at me with his tiny blue voice, "don't leave me, don't leave me!!!"

10:45pm…think to call Fred Meyer…no one has seen it.

10:55pm…not trusting Fred Meyer phone dude, I jump in my car and head their way. I check the parking lot holder…no carts. I awkwardly crawl around the carts in the entry. I ask the front desk lady if she has seen my tiny blue wallet. She calls the dude from the phone I am guessing. I get embarrassed and want to leave. She says it is better to check…maybe they found it she says. The silence kills me. The lady on the other side of the phone is looking…looking forever it seems like.

Lessons I learned from today:

1.             two hotdogs is too many

2.             remembering what the maintenance guy from the school you work at looks like is key to not looking foolish

3.             car shows are much more fun when you know something about cars

4.             Keeping track of precious things is important for maintaining proper stress levels

5.             Man is basically good. You don't believe me? Ask the Fred Meyer cart guy who found my little blue wallet. He left it alone…my dollars are still there…and he turned it in. What a good guy/girl...whoever they are.