Safe and Sound

It's been a while since I've posted. Our adventure continues.

In the last blog post I made we were in Mt. Pleasant, SC for doctor's appointments and some time visiting with friends. While there we had maintenance work done on the truck and took it to a carwash to get the salt and grime off of it. It was quite a mess. We also needed to get it vaccumed and to remove the nose prints Gracie the wonder dog puts on the windows. The carwash that day was so entertaining that I had to memorialize it in a blog post.

When we lived in Charleston I went to this carwash at least one a month. They did a good job and I had a customer rewards card that got me a free wash periodically. I didn't realize it at first but the carwash had changed hands since I was there last. Things were a little backed up when I pulled in so I waited patiently for the guy who tries to up sell you to their more expensive services. This is a little dance we do--he suggests things I didn't know you could clean and I say no. Once we get that out of the way I get my routine wash and vacuum and we're all set.

This time the up sell guy wasn't as motivated. In fact he didn't try and up sell me at all. He seemed to be less than enthusiastic about his job and with minimal discussion I got the basic wash and we were done.

I always wait to watch my truck go down the washing tunnel. I guess in that way I'm just a big kid. Once the truck was on its way I walked down to the customer lounge, paid for my wash, and had a seat to wait. That is when the fun started.

The cashier was making a call when I walked up and she deftly managed to check me out while her call was being completed. When the person on the other end of the phone answered she appeared to be quite surprised. Whoever answered the phone apparently wasn't who she expected which set off a stream of cussing and accusations. From what I pieced together she was calling her boyfriend and another woman unexpectedly answered. As and aside, if you were stepping out on your girlfriend why have your other girlfriend answer your phone? The cashier demanded to speak with her boyfriend who was apparently not available. This resulted in her slamming down the phone (did I mention that she was on the business's phone?) She grabbed her cigarettes and stepped out of the waiting area to the smoke a cigarette and fume. While she was out the phone began to ring. There wasn't an employee in the waiting room so the phone just rang and rang. Whoever it was finally gave up.

When the cashier came back in she called her boyfriend again and he apparently answered this time. "Who was that?" she asked. "Tell her I'm coming over and she better not be there." At this point more people were ready to pay and she did the most wonderful job of yelling at her boyfriend and cashing people out. She'd yell at him and completely turn her voice around and speak to the customer. She did this flawlessly.

At this point I was worried that my car would be ready before she was done yelling at her boyfriend. I was fascinated by the fact she could be yelling at her boyfriend and then turn to a customer and be as friendly as you could want.

She ended up hanging up on him again and went out for another cigarette. Of course the phone rang off the hook while she was gone but that apparently wasn't her concern. She came back again and called him. "I'm going to cut you so bad" was her next pronouncement and then she hung up.

In the mean time cars were pouring out of the wash tunnel and no one was picking them up. This caused several cars to slightly bump each other at the end of the tunnel. The washing machine was also leaving the cars covered with soap. People in the waiting room began to notice and started to complain to the cashier between phone calls to her boyfriend.

She called on of the dryers who came in and saw the mess that was being made. He shut down the washer and went out to move the cars. Enough complaints had been made at this point that he had to take 5 or 6 cars back through the washer. People were waking out to check for damage on their cars. Mine is so beat up that I didn't bother. Besides, I wasn't about to leave with the fate of the cashier and her wayward boyfriend in the balance.

At some point the checker in guy disappeared and there was a big backup of cars waiting to get checked in. This meant that the cars and trucks that needed to be rewashed were stuck at the end of the line since they couldn't get around the vehicles that were waiting. No one knew where the checker-in guy went and there were multiple calls over the loud speaker for him. He finally appeared. Apparently someone had some chicken wings and everyone had taken a break to enjoy them. That's also why there was a pile up in the wash tunnel. The drivers were eating chicken wings.

Back to the cashier. She called her boyfriend back and expertly cussed him out (in the presence of the entire waiting area) and told him that she would be there soon. Then she slammed the phone down. There were more complaints about the cars being covered in soap and one man wanted to see the manager. And then it all came out. The manager didn't show up that day. He apparently called in sick.

The whole place was going to hell and everyone was eating chicken wings. The phone was ringing off the hook while the cashier took yet another cigarette break and the checker-in dude apparently had gone AWOL again.

This would normally drive me nuts but it was such a train wreck I had to sit back and enjoy it. My truck was at the front end of the problems so it was being dried and detailed while the rest of the craziness was going on around me.

They finally called me and I reluctantly went out to my truck. The whole place was going to hell and I thoroughly enjoyed the show even if it did take longer than usual to get my truck washed.

The next time I'm in Charleston I'll most likely go back to that car wash just in the off chance the manager calls in sick again.

We're in Dade City, Florida now. The weather is warm during the day and down to the 50s at night. Charlie and Gracie are both settled into their new routine. There seem to be a lot of cats around. Our next door neighbor is feeding them and it's driving Charlotte nuts when she spies them on the picnic table.

I'm having surgery in March to repair and old car accident injury. The surgery has to be done in two steps 4 weeks apart so we'll be here for a couple of months at least. Not sure how that will impact our trip to Key West. Maybe after the second surgery we'll go sit in the sun for a while.