Sunday Shenanigans

Sunday was supposed to go like this: Matt would get up early and go to his SUP race, and I'd sleep in and go watch once the race was underway.

What actually happened was that Matt backed his car out of the garage and came back inside to wake me up. "There's a strange car in our driveway." A completely trashed strange car, it turned out, with garbage all over the inside, an industrial sized bottle of Grey Goose in the front seat, a high school senior tag on the windshield, and no driver in sight.

Boggled, I told Matt to call a towing company and go to his race.

I really enjoyed live-updating everyone on this debacle!

About half an hour later, the towing guy showed up. I explained that the car wasn't ours, we had no clue whose it was, and we wanted it towed. The guy was like, "This is a first for me." I asked him for a card to leave for the owner if they returned for the car, but in my mind all I could imagine was a hungover high-schooler checking random driveways like in Dude, Where's My Car, because how likely would it be that they'd remember where they parked it?

Who knew this movie was so close to real life?

About forty minutes after that, I was ready to go to the SUP race. I just had to tape the business card to our door...and then I heard it. Voices. A very distraught, shrill girl, and a completely confused and panicked boy.

I listened out of sight for a minute, trying to overhear them and figure out if they were safe to approach. I gathered that he had told her to park the car in our driveway because our house has a security system and a big hedge that blocks the driveway from the street, so it was safe. (Maybe they were at a party and didn't want to park in the street? I don't even know.)

I glanced out. He was shoeless and his mannerisms reminded me of Phoebe Buffay's brother Frank on FRIENDS. She was bleached-blonde, extensioned, over-tanned, tattooed, and generally pitiable. 

I went out. The boy asked me, completely guileless, "We parked our car here last night. Have you seen it?" As if this were the most natural thing in the world!

I told him my husband had had it towed and gave him the business card. I finished getting ready for the race while they stayed in the driveway trying to figure out what to do. I overheard the girl saying, "You're paying the fee! You're the one who told me to park here!" Good for you, girl.

I went out once more to give them bottles of water and to kind of check them out and see if they were safe to leave while I went to the race. They actually asked me for a ride to the tow yard! Of course, I declined. When I left the house, they were still in my driveway.

As for the SUP race, I got there after the start but with plenty of time to see Matt finish. We had lunch out afterward and by the time I got home, the hungover teens had gone.

I felt kind of bad about it, but really, we could've called the cops on them and made things much worse; had they left a note, we wouldn't have had the car towed at all. But hopefully this teaches them a valuable lesson and, in ten years or so, they'll look back on it and laugh.

And I just keep thinking, oh man, I'm old.

Did you get up to any shenanigans when you were in high school?

Do you ever have to deal with wayward teens?

ABK