When one become an adult, there are certain responsibilities
that require attention every now and then. When one is a child, the parents has
certain responsibilities that require attention every now and then that the
child is forced to play a part in. This is the story of those responsibilities
and how they affect both Ellie and I.
Last December, Bethany and I purchased a new (used) RAV4
after mine was totaled when someone smashed into the back of us on Highway 152.
If I'm being completely honest, it really didn't end up being a bad thing in
the long run. After all, I found a newer car with fewer miles and more
amenities than my previous RAV4 could ever dream of.
Whenever one gets a new car, there are plenty of things to
learn about it. For example, the fact that newer models of RAV4s use synthetic
oil and only need to be serviced once every 10,000 miles. Of course, as I was
too lazy to fully read the owner's manual, that was something I only learned
when calling the dealership to schedule my initial oil change after 5,000 miles.
Obviously, I went ahead and skipped that one, instead waiting for 10,000 to
hit.
Flash forward a few months ahead to Monday when those last
5,000 miles rolled over on the odometer and it was finally time for our first
oil change. I generally like to take care of stuff like that on a weekend when
Bethany can be at home with Ellie. However, that was not going to work out on
this occasion. Therefore, the day had come for Ellie to tackle a new adventure:
waiting at the car dealership.
The first part of the journey for Ellie was definitely
wrought not with peril, but with sheer boredom. She simply had to stand on the
ground behind while I confirmed the details of our service with our service
associate. Finally the time had come for us to wander into the waiting area and
find a place to hang out. While we initially checked out the new and improved
waiting area, we found that it was very lacking in things for a very busy
little girl to do for an hour and half. Instead, we wandered down the hall
until we discovered a special waiting area for people with kids and headed
inside.
Lucky for us, this room featured amenities for each of us.
For Ellie, there were boxes and boxes of new toys. Well, at least new to her.
It didn't even matter to her that they were worn and slightly gross. For me, I
was overjoyed to find a television that actually got NBCSN meaning that I would
be able to watch the NASCAR race while waiting for our service to be completed.
As a former cubicle dweller, I can attest that people can
only spend so much time in a small, enclosed space before succumbing to
madness. After approximately 30 minutes of waiting, I made the executive
decision that it was time to seek additional opportunities for adventure. Taking
Ellie's fascination with cars and colors into account, I decided a car
dealership was the perfect place to accommodate both of those loves.
Ellie and I wandered out of the building into the parking
lot, serpentining our way through row after row of cars. With each car we
walked by, Ellie would stop and pat the bumper, saying what she believed the
color was. With that I would either affirm or correct her guess.
As is the case with any Ellie-based adventure, the road can
be wrought with peril. For us, there were two obstacles to overcome. The first
being the continuous interruptions by car salesmen trying to interest me in a
brand new Toyota for Ellie. You would think it obvious we weren't in the market
but that wasn't the case. Instead I had to break it to each salesman
individually before being forced into awkward conversation with them about the
weather.
The second obstacle to which I referred proved to be much
more of an attractive nuisance to Ellie. At the north edge of the parking lot,
we happened upon two paths leading up a hill to a fountain with a car on it.
Given Ellie's love for water, it should be no surprise that I had to
continually direct her away from the path and distract her with other things.
While I definitely didn't want her in the water under normal circumstance, that
went double on this day as the water was dyed red in honor of the Kansas City
Chiefs and 'Red Friday'.
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| It's A Red Sea... |
Finally, the time came for us to head back inside, reclaim
our automobile, and head for home. That's right. We had successfully survived
Ellie's first trip to the car dealership. Now, that being said, I'm still not
ready to make this a normal thing to do with Ellie. After all, can you blame me
for not wanting to be accosted by any more car salesmen anytime soon?
#DaddyWrite
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