The lady yelled at me. “I know and I am sorry”, I replied. That was the best I could come up with in that situation with my mind blank and thoughts haywire. While I sat there on the road on a wrong lane with cars blaring their horns and flashing their headlights; I thought there was no way out. It was 10’ o clock at night and the scant lights didn’t help me much in my situation.
Let’s go back 12 hours. It was a bright and beautiful day for a Chicago visit. We reached bright and early and avoided the big queue for ticket at the John G Shedd aquarium near Lake Michigan. My parents were excited to see a variety of fishes at the aquarium and the show at the Amphitheatre was amazing. It was fun to watch the dolphins and beluga whales obeying their instructors with pin point accuracy. They did put up a splendid show. The variety of exhibits at the aquarium opened our eyes to some of the smallest, largest and beautiful creatures of this world. The aquarium visit was worth the time spent. We then went to the Adler Planetarium. The ‘Night Sky Live’ was one of the most informative shows that I visited in years. I could learn more about star patterns and also learnt about determining directions by just gazing at a star studded sky. I would still need a GPS though for my driving directions. ;)
After a sumptuous dinner at Indian Garden and some magnificent views of Chicago city at night from the 96th floor of John Hancock observatory, we started for our hotel which was 15 miles away. As we drove towards the hotel through the hustle bustle of the never sleeping interstate, we were discussing the day and getting ready for a comfortable night. We were in for a rude shock when we finally reached the hotel.
The front desk receptionist at the Holiday Inn, Elmhurst sank our heart when she said that their hotel was overbooked and our reservation couldn’t be honored. The reason for overbooking was because some guests extended their stay and there was no room available for us. Before I could break my silence, she told me that an alternate arrangement was made for us in the nearby Country Inn at Bensenville. This place was 3 miles further from Holiday Inn. She apologized for this inconvenience and promised us a complete refund of our booking charges. That was the only silver lining in this whole situation.
Understandably I and my parents were upset. It was 10 in the night and it was a new place. What happens if Country Inn couldn’t accommodate us? Where do we go? How do we spend our night? Should we drive 125 miles back home? We were inundated by all these questions with no answers in sight. I fed the address of the new hotel into my GPS and started our journey.
It was a quiet place and the lights were low. “Turn left” said my GPS. As a vigilant driver, I looked around for any vehicle and didn’t find any. So I turned left and suddenly realized that there was a small divider in between the road. “Oh god, what is this?” I thought to myself. My mind started thinking of alternatives to cross the road and what do I see. A bunch of lights coming from the opposite direction. Yes those were cars speeding towards a hapless me who was sitting there in the wrong lane. I thought it was over for me and my parents. Their first trip US trip would be their last, thanks to me. I stopped my car on the road awaiting my fate. My mind was blank not knowing what my next step would be. Amidst all this, a car had already stopped in front of me honking fervently and flashing its lights. The driver thought that I was not in my senses and pulled besides me and yelled “You are in the wrong lane stupid”.
Suddenly I realized that if I took a chance, I could cross the divider. Anyways it was the only option that I had. So with a prayer in my heart and courage in my mind, I stepped up the gas and went over the divider to cross onto the correct lane. God is so wonderful and with His help this attempt was successful. I couldn't even believe what had happened since everything seemed like a dream to me. I thanked God for keeping us alive and proceeded towards our hotel. My mind was filled with gratitude towards my Lord. This incident kept haunting me through the night but it was a relief that everything just went fine.
The trip was wonderful and truly a memorable one which taught me a lesson. There is always a way out from life’s most difficult situations if God is with you. You just have to believe in his power. It’s not over until He thinks it’s over!!!
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Just an update regarding my last blog http://abloggernamedjohn.blogspot.com/2009/07/60-miles-for-set-of-tires.html. I got a comment from Justin S. as follows:
I am from AAA National Member Relations. I apologize for negative experience you had. We strive to provide premium roadside assistance service, but obviously your experience was not representative of that goal. If you would allow me the opportunity to lodge a formal complaint with the AAA Club, I would very much appreciate the chance to restore your faith and trust in AAA. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Justin
Thanks Justin but till date I haven’t heard back from you. So if you are reading this then I do want to lodge a formal complaint with the AAA club.
