Before we left on our trip, we got pulled over by a state trooper, letting us know that our tag was expired. Whoops! Honestly, I was so much better about all that when there was a little sticker on the window as a constant reminder. Being that he was a state trooper, there was no way we were avoiding a ticket. Why is that?
We decided to take care of it after we got back. This week, Brad took the car to get inspected, paid the fees, got everything together, and asked me to head down to the courthouse to pay our fine.
Here's the thing.
We didn't get pulled over in our county. We got pulled over in the county we used to live in... the county that's massive and somehow can't seem to get its act together when it comes to functioning well. This meant that I couldn't just run 10 minutes down the road, say hello to Dixie (probably not really her name) , get my papers stamped, pay the fine, and be out in all of 5 minutes.
No, I had to go downtown. Oh wait, I'm sorry... "uptown" (geez, if that doesn't sound uppity...). But first, I had to run by the local WallyWorld and buy something random (I got a butternut squash) so I could get cash back to pay for parking. Because the bank we bank with doesn't have a branch in our small town (long story).
Anyways, Noah and I headed down to the Charlotte courthouse this morning.
The parking deck is located down the street from it, and guess what I forgot.... the stroller! And guess who was too freaked out by all the cars passing by that he wanted me to carry him... my 45 lb toddler! No biggie, I thought. It's not that far, and I've gotten (mostly) used to his weight. Thankfully, I was sporting gym shorts and a t-shirt instead of jeans.
Oh, did I mention it was raining?
We get to the security line, where they take my bag and run it through the scanner like at the airport. The super!duper!nice! sheriff lady asks me if I have a camera in the diaper bag. I didn't remember sticking one in there. Turns out, it was our video camera left from the beach.
My heart sank and I asked if they could just hold on to it for me until I came back down. They informed me that I had to take it outside, and if they took it, I wouldn't get it back (fyi, Dixie would've held onto it for me at our little courthouse) . Yeah, super duper nice. Sure, lady. This massive kid on my small hip is nothing. I'll just carry him all the way to the parking deck, then turn around and carry him all the way back. No problem.
And that's just what I did.
In the rain.
So we get back, and there was obviously a shift change. I asked the new sheriff where the office I needed to go was. He told me that the DA was probably on lunch break until 12:30. No biggie, it was 12:20. I could wait. Noah and I walked around, had a potty break, and headed on over the office.
After standing in line, I handed the lady behind the counter all my papers. She informed me that I needed to come back when the DA was there. He was on lunch break and would be back at 1:30. I had a whole hour to kill in this God-forsaken building. And Noah had been up since 7:30. He was getting tired and annoyed with this whole outing. As was I.
We hung out a little longer until Noah got so fussy, I contemplated heading home.
So guess what I did.
Carried him all the way back to the car. Again.Thankfully, by this time, the rain had stopped.
We hung out in the car, listened to music, played with my cell phone. I got him to stay happy until about 1:15. I figured we'd been through enough, I might as well make it worth it. I grabbed him, made him walk a little, and then he begged me to carry him again. *sigh*
We went through security, got up to the office, only to see that there was a line almost out the door.
All waiting for the DA.
Are you freaking kidding me?
We stand in the line for about 5 minutes (the DA still isn't even there yet... I sure hope he had a nice lunch!), and Noah starts fussing, rubbing his eyes, burying his head in my shoulder. Basically, he was going to fall asleep with me holding him, trying to juggle papers and a diaper bag too.
So I left.
Nothing got accomplished, except for a ridiculous workout downtown.
And I get to turn around and do it all over again tomorrow.
2 comments:
So sorry that you had a rough day!
As you know, I don't drive. Never had a driver's license in my life. There are many disadvantages to not driving, but there is one advantage (and don't you dare tell ABM that I said this!). I will never have those stories of dealing with a cranky child in a supermarket or library or courthouse. ABM could always leave the kids home with me while he took care of stuff like that. We knew we didn't have the patience to corral children out in public, so we pretty much kept them at home until they were school age.
Oh man that sucks! What a crappy way to spend your day. :-(
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