My husband has a big, 8-foot, extended cab, diesel truck that he uses for work.
Depending on how many kids have to be in different places, we often trade off cars.
I like driving his truck because I feel kind of like a bad ass behind the wheel.
Yesterday Number 3 had a baseball game.
I had to coach swim practice and I came to the game from the pool. My husband was already at the game with the rest of the kids.
About an hour into the game, Number 5 started not feeling well, and Number 6 had a total meltdown, so he took my car and drove them home.
When the game was over, Number 3 headed to a second game with his coach.
I got into the truck with Number 4 and Number 7. I was going to drop Number 7 at home and then head over to Number 3’s second game.
The truck was parked facing downhill on an incline close to the fence bordering the field.
I put the truck in reverse, stepped on the gas, and the back wheels just spun on the grass.
We were downhill enough and the back end of the truck was light enough that there wasn’t sufficient weight in the back to get any traction.
I took a break and tried again.
Same thing.
The wheels were spinning and I was going nowhere.
I put the truck into drive and pulled forward a little bit and turned the front wheels.
Maybe that would do the trick.
Nope. Same thing. And now I was almost touching the fence with the front bumper.
I have driven the truck many times, but never had the need to put it into 4-wheel drive.
In my car, you just press a button on the dashboard and it’s all taken care of.
I looked at the dashboard of truck.
I didn’t see a button.
I looked. And looked. And looked.
I could tell there were a couple people who were now watching me, because my spinning wheels were making a decent amount of noise.
I didn’t want to look like an idiot and have to ask someone to help me find the 4-wheel drive on the truck.
So I opened the glove compartment and took out the manual.
I’d see where it was in there.
I saw nothing.
What the hell? Did we seriously buy a big ass truck with no 4-wheel drive? Do they even make trucks like this with no 4-wheel drive?
I could have sworn the truck had it. But I figured I was wrong. Cause there was no sign of any f*&%ing 4-wheel drive anywhere.
I put the truck in reverse and tried one more time.
Nothing.
Number 4 and 7 were now yelling at me to take them home.
And then, I had to admit I needed help.
There were a handful of people who were watching me.
I told one mom that I couldn’t back the truck up, and in a bout 1.4 seconds, there were at least five dads surrounding the truck.
Should we push it?
My husband has a chain!
I’ll go get my chain and pull you out.
I was happy I wouldn’t have to call my husband to come get me, but slightly mortified and feeling not so bad-assy anymore.
So the dads were surrounding me and waiting while Chain Dad went to get his truck.
And then one of the other dads said to me,
“Um… why don’t you just shift it into 4-wheel drive?”
And he pointed to the gear shift on the floor of the truck.
I felt my face go crimson.
Number 4 yelled,
“MOM! DON’T YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THIS THING?”
I shifted the truck into 4-wheel drive, backed out without a problem, thanked the large group of men looking at me like I was a complete bimbo, and drove away as they yelled,
“Don’t forget to take it out of 4-wheel drive!”
So much for feeling like a bad ass.
From now on, I think I’ll just stick to driving my car.
Deanna says
At least your Blonde moment didn’t cost you any money.
A few years back (on my birthday…after nearly no sleep) I went to get dinner (yes, I had to get my own birthday dinner.) I got home…drove into the driveway, turned the car off, and tried to get the key out of the ignition. It wouldn’t come out. I fiddled with it until it finally came out. I took the food inside and was setting the table. We heard a loud BOOM. I looked out the front…nothing. I looked out the back and my car had rolled down the driveway and crashed into the garage door. Crashed it so good that it did damage to my husband’s PD car. The garage door was brand new.
Turns out…..my car was not in park. It was still in drive (which is why I couldn’t get the key out of the ignition initially.)
The garage door repair man (same guy that installed it) looked at me like I was a moron when I explained what happened.
not your average mom says
Ok. Well now I feel better. Although I have had nightmares about that happening — the car rolling away and smashing into something.
Deanna says
I now obsessively check to make sure the car is in park when I turn it off.
Annette says
I can certainly tell you that you are not alone. A bunch of us were just telling each other “blonde” car stories the other weekend. I was a teenager and my dad loaned me his car to drive to work (I usually walked or biked) because the weather was awful. The rule of my house was always that whoever was driving when the tank ran empty had to fill it. So, of course, on that day his car was low on fuel. I drove to the gas station and got out of the car. No gas cap on the driver’s side. So, I walked around to the other side, feeling sheepish for not checking first. Still no gas cap. I must have walked around that car for 10 minutes, feeling dumber and dumber as people filled their cars and left. I finally gave up and drove home. It was then my dad told me that the gas cap was hidden UNDER the license plate. I would have NEVER looked there. Who designed that?!
In college I borrowed a friend’s car to take a big group out of town to the nearest mall for a little shopping. After parking, everyone hopped out. I tried to follow. But the key would not come out of the ignition. The car was off and in park. I tried everything. I started and turned it off. I straightened the wheel. I opened and closed and unlocked and locked doors and windows. I turned everything on and then off in the car. Nothing. This was before cell phones, so I had to leave the keys in the car (panicking the whole time) and get to a pay phone in the mall to call my friend. It turns out that on the underside of the steering column was a release button for the keys. You couldn’t see it, but if you felt for it, it was there. AGH! Again…who designed that!?
You didn’t know and you did all the right things to figure it out. You were not the lady who called OnStar when the battery in her key fob died and she couldn’t figure out how to get OUT of her locked car…