OHHHH What a Night :-(

As I mentioned in the previous post, Nathan started Karate last night. The class was over at 6:30 so we go out to the car load up and I try to start the car. NO LUCK!! I first check to make sure I am not out of gas (because of a previous experience) and I have more than half a tank. So then I check the dash gages and it looks as if my battery is dead. I call Preston to tell him what is going on and then unload the kids and try to find someone to give me a jump. I found a guy to help me but he was VERY hesitant to help. Apparantly he planned to go running while his daughter was in a class at the complex. The whole time he was "helping me" he was putting off a vibe that he really didn't want to help. This is my first evidence that there are not many good samaritans in the world anymore. So we try a few times and the car still won't start. I tell him thanks for trying and then he high tails it out of there.I then call Preston again and tell him the jump didn't work so he calls the Bishop and gets out of his appointments at the church and heads to Auto Zone to buy me my own jumper cables and a new battery. When Preston gets there we try to jump it again still no luck, then while putting the new battery on the battery post is stripped (or something like that ) so he heads back to the store to buy that part and new batteries for his flashlight so he can see what he is doing.

By this time it is about 8:15 pm. Keep in mind we arrived at Karate lessons at 5:45 and the kids and I have NOT had any dinner. Fortunately right before we left I grabbed a couple granola bars and fruit snacks, a bottle for Natalie and some drinks and threw them in the diaper bag. We will call this inspiration.

Another fortunate thing is that we were stranded in a parking lot next to a playground. So the kids played to kill some time. But it is kind of chilly and they are not dressed to be outside after dark.

We were also next to the complex where Nathan's class was so we went inside a few times and used their restroom, to warm up and Taylor looked at some books. They also had vending machines so we bought a few things for our "dinner" to supplement the granola bars and fruit snacks.

The complex closed at 9:00 so we went out to the car and I tried to get the kids to sleep. Nathan finally did about 9:20 in this very uncomfortable position. Good thing he is flexible. Taylor is asleep in the back of the car and Natalie went to sleep in her car seat.

A little before 10 my wonderful Mom came to our rescue. She came with some food and to take us home. This is another reason I wish we had more than 1 family vehicle. We couldn't all fit in Preston's van so she came to take us home. We loaded up the car seats and left about 10:30 PM We had to leave the car there where it still is now. Preston had done everything possible and we even called the husband of my visiting teaching companion who is a mechanic and he tried to help Preston over the phone. I had to deal with the kids and try to keep them happy and comfortable while Preston had the frustration of trying to fix the car, not a fun task for either of us. Hopefully we can get it fixed today because we are supposed to be driving to Las Vegas tomorrow. So another positive is that this didn't happen while we were at a rest stop on the highway or while in Vegas.

Okay now to discuss my frustration with the lack of good samaritans in the world. This whole ordeal started at 6:30 so I spent 4 HOURS with 3 small children in a fairly busy parking lot with the hood of my car up and only 3 people asked what the problem was and if they could help (2 men and 1 woman). I saw 2 policeman 1 Sheriff and a park ranger be within a few feet of me and my car and NEVER stop and talk to me. The Park ranger was parked about 20 yards away from me and sat in his truck the WHOLE 4 hours and never once came over to help me or even talk to me. What is wrong with people. It was frustrating and exhausting at times I just wanted to cry,but we survived no thanks to fellow citizens of our community.