This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

My car was in the shop yesterday having the brakes replaced. Since I am at my parents' house right now, my mom said I could drop her off at work and then take her car to run errands during the day.

I was pretty excited about this since she just got a BMW convertible over the winter and it was a perfect, beautiful day to drive around with the top down. So I take off for my first appointment of the day, top down, sunglasses on, hair blowing in the breeze.

When I was about five miles from my destination I noticed some darker clouds appearing and the wind kicking up. "Don't tell me it's going to rain," I thought. Sure enough, a few drops started to fall. I was able to pull over before it really rained and put the top up, which is pretty easy, you just push a button until the roof stops moving and making noises. I drove through the little storm pretty quickly, though and then it was sunny again.

I made it to my appointment and after it was over I had a call for work. I wouldn't have time to get back home so I set up my computer in passenger seat of the car and put the top down to get some air while I worked.

When I finished it looked like it could rain again before long so I started the car and pushed the button to put the top up- nothing. I pressed the top down button to make sure it was really down and then pushed the top up button- still nothing.

I turned the car off and re-started it and pushed the button again- no dice. I called my mom to see if there was some trick to it that I'd missed. She had nothing for me, it hadn't worked for her once before, in January (I didn't ask why she'd had the top down in January in the first place) and it turned out it had shorted out.

In case that's what had happened this time, she suggested I take it to the dealership which, luckily, was only a few miles from where I was parked. I tried it one more time and then drove to the dealership. By drove I mean I made about seven K and U turns in my attempt to get where I was supposed to be going since I have pretty much the worst directional sense ever.

I finally got there, frustrated and windblown and they sent a technician out to look at the car while I sat on a bench outside of the service office door. After only two minutes someone drove the car up to where I was waiting, the top securely up.

"What was wrong?" I asked. "Nothing, I just pushed the button and it went up," the guy replied.

"Really? Cause I pushed it a few times and it didn't work."

He didn't even answer, just demonstrated the functioning hood, pressing the buttons to send it up and down, twice each and it worked perfectly each time. It was as though he didn't even want to acknowledge my idiocy with words.

I wanted him to know that I realized I looked silly, "well, I'd rather I look stupid than there be something wrong with the car," I said with a laugh.

"I know, right?" he replied with a smirk that said that he did, in fact, think I looked stupid.

Then I got in the car and proceeded to turn around three times in the parking before going out the entrance.

When I went to pick up my mom, she went to get in the passenger side. "Oh no," I told her, putting it in park and getting out, "I'm done, you can drive it the rest of the way."

I'll stick with uncomplicated, hard-topped Honda from now on.