Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Press the Brake

I just dropped Little Sister off at the airport.

Well, I carried her luggage, walked with her to check in, and left her at the C gates.

What kept me from crying?
Mom.

No, not her cool deposition (she was far from it, actually. Her nose was red, her eyes were watery... Little Sister was doing the same thing, getting red in the face, that is), but the mistake she committed when we were looking for a parking spot.

She went in the wrong lot. We were trying to tell her to go to the short term lot, but somehow, "long term" looks identical to "short term" to her.

As we were getting to the... what's that called... the little arm that goes up and down... it's colored yellow with black stripes... it goes down to keep you from going in to a parking area, goes up when you get a ticket... well, that little bar was in the way, with the ticket machine to the left stating "please, grab a ticket."
Well, I guess Mom's far more discombobulated than any of us, and as she was reaching for the ticket, she bumped her head on the car door.
Somehow, she released the brake... so my car began to roll forward, towards the little arm/bar thing.
You know what Mom did next??
She tried grabbing the fucking ticket, that wasn't being released by the machine (if it were a human, I'm sure it would have been saying "What the fuck is your problem? If you plan on busting through the bar, I won't give you a fucking ticket").
As my car rolled forward... towards the yellow with black metal bar thing... she was trying. to reach for. the goddamn. ticket.

"LET THE TICKET GO!! PRESS THE FUCKING BRAKE!"

"Out of all things... you give more importance to grabbing a damn ticket than pressing the brake?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

I know, aren't I the sweetest when in the face of danger?

Finally, she put the brake on, when my car was centimeters away from the bar (that would have made it the second time my poor Bambi gets crashed into some yellow bar... the poor car).

Anyway, it was 10 times funnier in person... of course, once the initial rage passes. Little Sister and I used it as a way to keep from crying.

I'm getting teary-eyed as we're going up the escalator to the C gates?
"Press the brake!!"

Little Sister's getting teary-eyed as Mom is giving her the blessing?
"Press the brake!"

Mom's getting watery-eyed as she's watching her baby girl walk toward the check point?
"Press the brake!"

Then I came home and had a mild freakout.
She'll be gone for 5 months...
Holy moly... my baby sister will be alone for (a little under) 5 months (because I will be there with her for two weeks, damn it!) on the other side of the hemisphere!

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