Monday afternoon at 6:00 PM car goes in the ditch and there is approximately 1 inch of snow on the road. The only reason the car went in the ditch is because the steep hill it was on had not been cleaned. OK, no big deal, girl has Triple A service (Gold Member at that, one phone call and they tell her 60 minutes and she’ll be out of the ditch.
Fifty-five minutes later Wheeler Tow Service shows up. Girl puts on coat, hat, shoes and gloves and walks down the hill. There is now two inches of snow on the road and still no snow plow in sight. Wrecker guy says (rather rudely), “I can’t tow you. My truck is too big and the road hasn’t been cleaned. Sorry, you’ll have to call for a smaller truck with another service”. With that he is gone.
Girl goes back and calls Triple A. They assure her they will call another service and because she is a Gold Member they will rush the situation. Forty-five minutes later the second tow truck shows up. Girl puts on coat, hat, shoes and gloves and she also notices a man in a white pick up truck get out behind the tow truck driver and he is talking to him. As she walks down the hill, neither seem to care that this is her car, nor do they come to talk to her. As she heads toward them she falls down the hill in the snow. There is now approximately 2 ½ inches of snow and still no snow plow in sight.
As she approaches the tow truck driver she hears the man in the white truck say, “Well we need to find the owner of this car because she is an obstruction to other traffic and I’m having her towed out of here!” The girl, already wet, cold and tired begins to raise her voice and state, “I AM the owner of the car and this is MY tow truck that I ordered. I TRYING to get my car out of the ditch. What business is this of his anyway?” The tow truck driver then informs her that this is policeman Dave and he lives at the top of the hill. Still angry and cold she stands her ground. Policeman Dave then says, “Your car is an obstruction and it MUST be towed now.” Again (tow truck parked right in front of his truck” and girl says, “That is what I’m trying to do, did you notice the tow truck here?”
Tow truck driver #2 says he needs help from his partner and he’ll be here in about 30 minutes. Policeman Dave tells girl to go in where it’s warm and he’ll call her when they arrive. Forty-five minutes later the partner arrives. Girl puts on wet coat, wet hat, wet shoes and wet gloves and heads back down the hill. Partner tells policeman they can’t pull the car out until the city comes and plows the hill. It’s just too slick. Policeman calls the station and tells the city they MUST have the snowplow come out. There are now 4 inches of snow on the road. Policeman tells girl to go back in the house and wait for the snowplow and they’ll pull her car out. She is to call the tow truck driver once the snow plow has scraped the road. She is also to call the police dispatcher to tell her that my car is no longer an obstruction and she is given a number. Policeman Dave is apparently taking himself off the case.
1 hour later the snow plow arrives. Girl immediately calls the tow truck driver and the dispatcher says, “They’ll be right there.” Forty-five minutes later new tow truck pulls up and Girl puts on wet coat, wet hat, wet shoes and wet gloves, however when she gets to the door the tow truck is backing up and leaving. Girl calls tow truck company and she is dispatched through to the driver. He says, more rudely than the first tow truck guy, “We can’t do this, I’m the supervisor and it’s too dark and you have foot of snow out here. (It’s only 4 inches by the way). This will have to wait until morning.” With that he hangs up.
Girl calls police dispatcher, Jackie, who is the nicest person ever. She tells her that tow truck #3 has bailed and tells her the history. Jackie then says she’ll call Bennett Tow Truck company, as they work for the city and they should be able to pull it out as a “police call”.
Thirty minutes later Bennett Tow Truck arrives and before girl can even get her wet coat on, tow truck #4 is already backing away from the scene. It’s a record; he didn’t even get out of the truck to talk to the girl.
Girl calls dispatcher, Jackie, back again and tells her he lasted 7 seconds and bailed. Jackie says maybe policemen will just come and put some flares or barricades around the car until morning.
Thirty minutes later, it’s now Midnight, not one, not two, but three police cars pull up to the “scene” and there is a knock at the girl’s door. (Did we really need three police cars?) She of course answers and they ask her to come outside and tell her story. Girl puts on wet coat, wet hat, wet shoes and wet gloves and walks down the hill to tell her story. It down begins to sleet as she tells her story. The hill that was scraped is now iced over.
Policeman Tucker gets on the radio and explains to tow truck driver #5 that he WILL show up and he WILL tow the car out tonight or he WILL lose his contract with the city. Policeman then tells the girl to go back in to the house and stay dry (as if) until the tow truck comes.
1 hour later the tow truck arrives and this time he does pull the car out of the ditch, but he charges her $100 dollars. Girl has already been on the phone arguing with Triple A throughout all of this, by the way, to state that they WILL pay for this since all of their loser tow trucks wouldn’t do the job and the city demanded her car must be moved. It took two idiots and then a supervisor, however they agreed to pay IF we mailed the original receipt in to them (they had to make it hard)
2:00 AM in the morning Girl calls dispatcher to tell her she is NO LONGER an OBSTRUCTION on the road and the crisis is over. Girl goes to bed, cold, damp and exhausted.
Towing of Vehicle $100.00
Cleaning mud off of the car $8.00
Being able to make fun of the City Police and Tow Service forever………………Priceless
