The Quirky Van

Our van is moody.

It recently decided it likes to park. It likes to park so much that it won’t let you take it out of park. So our (read that as Brian’s) solution is to not ever put it in park. We leave it in neutral and put the emergency brake on. That leads to another problem. The sliding doors are automatic and only work when the van is in park. We now have four kids in car seats. We have them all enter in through the front doors, climb over the seats, and get into their spot. Then we (read Brian) climb into the back and buckle everyone in their seats.

Last night we packed up all the kids to go to a wedding reception that should have been an hour away. It was more like 2 plus hours driving with our bogus mapquest directions. I wonder if the guys that work for mapquest get bored and every once in a while throw in some crazy direction and laugh to themselves. That "make a U turn" step really seemed off. And turns out it was. We made it to the reception in the nick of time! Really, it was an answer to my prayer. We were SOOO lost. It is a miracle we found the house. The kids deserve metals, or silly bands,for their patient behavior. Whatever they prefer. I was so so happy to see my friend. It had been about 10 years.

Back to the van. We made a quick stop (I use that word loosely) to return a movie to a redbox. Brian asked me to make a note for the dashboard that said "Neutral" so we wouldn’t accidentally put it in park. My head was down and I was writing the note as he jumped out to return the video. After a few seconds I noticed the things outside the van were moving. I looked up. We were rolling backwards. I screamed for Brian. Not sure what he could of done. He was really in tune with the redbox machine and didn’t hear my plees. I jumped over the console, grabbed the wheel, and hit the emergency brake. PHEW! We didn’t hit anything or anyone. I wrote the reminder note for the dashboard. It said, "Neutral & BRAKE!"

I think I ‘ll stay home today.