Stuck in 1st Gear

Marie-Pierre writes:

I was flustered last night.  My car was having transmissin problems; it wouldn’t engage past second gear and would lurch forward every few yards, making the most god-awful noises along the way.  I called Stan of course.  He is supposed to fly to my rescue if anything happens to me on the road.   he is supposed to jump in his car and drive wherever I am parked to fix the flat, call the tow truck and generally make things better.

I never had to test that theory until last night.  My car is almost new and in very good shape, but Stan didn’t disappoint me.  He immediately asked where I was and started to shut down his computer while running through a list of questions.  Was I in “drive” (yes), did my car act up before (sort of, I thought), was I near a parking lot (no), could I stop (no), did I renew my AAA membership (no).  I was upset and hang up mid-sentence so I could negotiate a ver slow turn and find a parking lot.  
I was sweaty and upset but decided the best course of action was to breathe, stop the car and calmly start it again to see what would happen.  

As it turned out, I had been stuck on the manual gear setting.  I had started my car in the dark parking lot at my new work and hadn’t noticed I had pushed past the “Drive” mode.  Rats!
I called Stan to let him know I was o.k.  He didn’t even make fun of me.  

It’s good to have backup.

Stan writes:

Yesterday at about 5:15 pm I got a call from MP who was somewhat panicky.  She told me that her car was not running right and she thought something was wrong with her transmission.  She was stuck in traffic and was nervous about what to do.

So I did what most men would do……I started asking questions.  “Is it making any clunking noises?”  “No, it just only goes so fast and then makes a whining sound.”  “Is it grinding or slipping?”   “No, it just seems that it won’t go very fast and as long as I go slow, it seems OK, it’s just not running right.”  “Do you have it in the right gear?  “Of course I have it in the right gear, I know how to drive my car……I just need to get off the phone and pull over and see what is up.”

OK….so I got ready to go get her and was racking my brain as to what it could be.  Usually when transmissions  go …they go.  Anyway, I was about out the door and MP called me back and said “Everything is OK……I was in the wrong gear…..I was stuck in low (or first)gear.”   I was happy that she was OK and she was embarrassed because she had been driving her car for blocks in traffic in first gear…..with the gears and engine whining away…..just like it suppose to in 1^st gear.

So we had a good laugh and started talking about the synchronicities of this and how this comes at a time of such change for her. It was one of those moments where I didn’t have to say a whole lot…..I think she knew exactly why she got stuck in low gear…….needless to say, she changed gears and she is back in business…..that’s my MP.