Post Blizzard Experience

Hi there! Happy New Year to all. I have a bit of a different blog today based on an experience I had following our massive snow dump here in Northern Ontario. My blog is not about adoption this time, just a little fun story based on a simple post-blizzard trip to the post office.

So it all started when I went to mail a parcel at Canada Post. I asked my hubby for a $20 bill to back me up as I did not have much cash on me and I had no idea what the parcel would cost in postage. He put a $20 bill on the car’s centre console. I dropped him off near the bank where he was off to make a financial transaction of some sort and I continued driving on for a few blocks toward the post office.

Keep in mind that I was driving around a week after our mini ‘snowmageddon’.That was when approximately 60 centimetres (about 2 feet) of the normally pretty white flakes fell in a 24 hour period. Unless you are a skier, I’m not sure you can even imagine what the snowbanks looked like. I drove around our basically now one lane downtown streets looking for a parking spot at, or at least near, the post office. Like other drivers, I was straining my neck forward to try and see past the corner snowbanks (taller than my vehicle) in order to safely cross the intersections.

Also like my fellow drivers, I was frequently forced to play a Northern Ontario game of ‘chicken’. The rules of this game of chicken are that you stop where you believe the stop sign is approximately located, then alternately press the gas and brake pedals sneaking out onto the roadway, until you finally have to close your eyes and shoot across the intersection while holding your breath and gripping the steering wheel.

After playing chicken for a few blocks finally noticed some cars parked on the street about a half of a block away from the post office building. I parked the car, by that I mean I drove it as close to the snowbank as possible guessing that it was as close to a metered spot as possible. Before exiting the vehicle I quickly texted my husband the location of the vehicle in case he finished at the bank before I finished at Canada Post. I got out and walked behind the car to go pay the meter. It was then I noticed that the meters were stranded like tall robots, up to their ‘necks’ in a sea of snow. ‘You know what?’ I thought to myself, ‘I’ll just pay the parking ticket if I get one.’ and then I carefully made my way down the street toward the post office.

Once I got to the Post Office I was shocked to discover a line up of customers almost out the door! What would make these idiots come to the post office given the terrible road/parking conditions. Then I realized that I too, was at the post office. I swear every customer ahead of me was returning an Amazon package. The staff members were in a loop of explaining what happens with Amazon returns, how the customer should keep the post office receipt and so on. I thought they should just shout it out once so all of us could hear and the line could move faster. In the meantime, I reached for the $20 bill my husband had given me. I started to get a little concerned when it wasn’t in the pocket I had put it in. In fact, it was not in any of my pockets.

Likely expecting the influx of customers to be lining up out the door there were actually two Canada Post workers serving at two counters. Phew, that should move things along right? Except that one employee was repeating the same comment over and over to one tiny older lady slightly rewording the explanation each time. He explained the process in both official languages to no avail. In the meantime I was searching my pockets frantically for that twenty dollar bill! Finally another employee magically appeared from the back, and simply repeated what the first employee had been telling the customer all along. For some reason the new employee’s explanation seemed to satisfy the customer and she finally left. The rest of us almost applauded as she made her way out of the post office.

Anyway, as I approached the counter the fellow disappeared, probably going out for a smoke or maybe even a drink to celebrate that the customer had finally left. However, the hero employee replaced him weighed my parcel and gave me the total. By now, having given up searching, I reluctantly used my debit card while still wondering where the heck that twenty dollar bill had gotten to!

I returned to my vehicle and was relieved to see that there was no parking ticket under my wiper! Then I completed another search for the elusive $20 bill. I checked the centre console again, searched under the seats and even lifted the floor mats! Once again checking my pockets, though now I could actually dump their contents onto the seat. I texted my husband to tell him where I was parked so he could find me; so distracted that I forgot I had already texted him.

After double checking the car without success I got back out and emptied my pockets, putting the contents on the driver’s seat. Finally I thought maybe the elusive $20 bill had fallen on the ground, and blown under the car. Stop laughing! It was worth a look. So I checked for oncoming traffic, went to the back of the car, knelt down on the snow packed road (no small feat at my age) and looked under the car.

I know you are not going to believe this but there it sat. That damn tri-folded $20 bill was just sitting there, mocking me. Well I ‘hopped up’ (otherwise known as struggled to my feet) and got a snow brush from the car. Back down to my knees on the snow packed road I used the brush to slide the bill carefully toward me. Unbelievable! How that bill stayed under my car on a snowy, wintry day was nothing short of a miracle. My only regret is not having taken out my phone and taken a picture of that tri-folded bill just lying under the car, mocking me, on a miserable, blustery winter day!

I started the car and waited for my husband to find me, and the car, after he finished his banking. It was then I realized that there was no parking ticket! When he joined me I drove off in the direction of the closest Tim Hortons saying, “Do I have a story to tell you!”

I hope you enjoyed this little digression from the usual adoption theme. I felt that it was an experience worth sharing. Thank you for dropping by and having a read. Take good care of each other until next time