The Worst 24 Hours of My Life

On December 27th, 1990, I left Artesia early in the morning to head back to Denver in the used car that my parents had bought me for Christmas. It was a 1978 Ford Pinto and it was the WORST CAR I EVER HAD! This started becoming apparent as I drove toward Roswell to meet Chez. I noticed that the heater wasn't blowing out warm air. I was surprised. Dad was usually pretty good about vetting these things. I didn't know if I could handle driving around Denver in the winter without a heater. I mean, how was I going to defrost the windows?

Before I left my Mom's house, I packed a Ziploc bag with leftover turkey and took a 2-liter bottle of Coke with me. I was ready to go.

Fortunately, the sun was shining most of the day while I was driving through New Mexico. After seeing Chez, I made it up to my Grandma Ogolon's house in Portales, where my Dad and his side of the family had gathered for a holiday celebration after spending Christmas in their homes. Most of my cousins were there. Dad seemed a little irritated that I had shown up several hours after I'd said I had left. It was at this time that he gave me the phone number of the police detective connected to my accident.

I spent a little time there, then I went to Ft. Sumner to see my Grandma Bend. This was the point at which she shed tears over having seen my brother and me going back and forth between Mom and Dad's houses. After about an hour, I hit the road. I was supposed to be at work at the Mayan Theatre the next day. It was 6:15pm and I had a seven-hour drive ahead of me. I was going to make it.

This is the point that started THE WORST 24 HOURS OF MY LIFE: Just before 8pm, I got onto I-40 and drove past the town of Santa Rosa. It had started to snow. Just a few miles out, my HEADLIGHTS SUDDENLY WENT OUT! I immediately pulled over. I knew there was no way I'd be able to drive through Raton Pass without headlights, so I thought I'd just sleep in my car next to the highway until the sun came up. I would still be able to make it to work on time. I put on an extra layer of clothes and got the back seat ready to sleep in.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me: What if my car didn't start? I'd better check that out! I got into the front seat, put the key in the ignition, turned it and "click click click." The car wasn't going to start. I didn't know what I was going to do. I remembered that there was a Stuckey's about three miles back. I had no choice but to walk over there and call AAA.

I felt so helpless and alone as I was walking to Stuckey's. It was snowing and cars were driving past me. No one could see me or come to my aid. I cried most of the way over there.

It took me an hour before I reached the ramp that led to Stuckey's. When I was about 100 yards away, THEY TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS! WHAT? I thought Stuckey's was open 24 hours! I went to the side of the building and found a payphone. I just needed to pull up the phone book and find the number for AAA. When I pulled up the binder that contained the phone book, I found it was empty. I was going to have to make a plea to the people working inside to borrow their phone book.

I knocked on the front door. Someone came up. I told them my car had broken down and I needed to borrow their phone book to call AAA. The person let me inside and said I could use the payphone in there. Fortunately, the phone book was there and not missing the page for AAA. I called the number and asked the person to come by Stuckey's to pick me up on the way to the car.

The staff that was closing up allowed me stay inside while I waited for the tow truck. While I was there, several cars kept driving up and trying to get gas at the pumps. I wasn't the only one who thought they were always open. The tow truck arrived within 15 minutes. It was a man about my age and a woman in the truck. I told them the car was located about 3 miles away. We drove to the car. I pulled my travel bag and put the turkey and Coke inside. The driver was able to get the car hooked up to the tow truck. We drove back to Santa Rosa. He stopped outside a motel and told me I needed to spend the night there. The auto shop was right next door and their crew would be able to work on it the next morning.

I checked into the motel. It only cost $15 for the night. I didn't think that was so bad. The only problem was that they didn't have telephones in the rooms. I had to go to the office to use their phone to call work. I told Mr. M that I wasn't going to make it the next day because of car trouble. I then called Mom and Dad and let them know I was stuck but would get the car fixed. Dad told me to pay for it with my credit card and he would reimburse me.

I went back to my room, ate the turkey and drank the soda. I remember watching "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" on TV before falling asleep. I did not know what the next day would have in store for me.

I woke up and went over to the auto shop around 7:30am. The mechanics were there, but they were already working on two other cars. Apparently, there were a couple of other people who had to get towed in the night before. I was going to have to wait. About three hours later, they got to my car. They had to replace one part in my electrical system. They also had to replace the battery, the headlights and the taillights. Since they didn't have the parts there, someone had to run to the store to get them. I had wait even more. They finally finished up with the car around 2pm. I had to pay around $200. Fortunately, they took my credit card.

I didn't have any problems as I drove out of New Mexico through the Raton Pass. I got a few miles past Pueblo. It was around 5pm. All of a sudden, the engine stopped running. I pulled over near an exit. I tried starting the car. Again, it went, "click click click." On the other side of the underpass, there was a horse ranch. I went over there to see if they would let me use the phone. While I was walking down the dirt road toward the ranch, a pickup drove past me headed in the opposite direction. They didn't seem to pay any attention to me. I got to the house and knocked on the door. No one answered. I figured that whoever was there had left in that pickup earlier. I walked back to the highway. It was starting to get dark. I knew it would be getting cold soon. I went back to the car and put on another layer of clothing.

I was in the middle of nowhere. I looked to the north and to the south. I couldn't figure out which way was the best way to go, but I didn't cry this time. I thought it would be best just to walk back to Pueblo. After I had been walking for about 20 minutes, a patrol car pulled up beside me. The officer asked if that was my car on the northbound side. I told him it was. He told me he would drive me back to the car and call a tow truck for me. I was a little afraid because I didn't have any auto insurance. I thought he was going to ask for my proof of insurance and wind up issuing me a ticket. But he never asked.

We waited for about a half-hour before the tow truck arrived. I asked the driver how far away his auto shop was from the Greyhound station. He said it wasn't too far, but he could just drop me off over there. I told him it would be at least a week before I'd be able to come back down and pick up the car, but I wanted his shop to look at it and give me an estimate.

I went into the Greyhound station and approached the ticket counter. I asked what time the next bus to Denver was going to be. The woman said it was coming in the next ten minutes. This was the best news I had heard in the last 24 hours. I paid $15 for the ticket and waited. It actually took the bus about 30 minutes to arrive, but nothing surprised me at this point. While we were waiting, I remember this bum was going around asking for money. I remember this one woman a little younger than me who appeared particularly disturbed that this man had approached her. A few minutes later, security came up and escorted him out of the station.

There were no events of note on the ride up to Denver. After we arrived at the 16th Street Mall, I walked over to the intersection of Broadway and Colfax and waited for the next bus to arrive. The Number 0 came by, but didn't stop. Everybody at the corner started yelling, screaming and waving. Then we all just kind of sat there and grumbled about it for a few minutes until the next bus arrived.

Finally, a bus did come that would take me near my apartment. I boarded, got off at 6th Avenue and walked the rest of the way home. I was relieved to have made it back in one piece and able to work the next day. It felt so good to bring this day to a close.

I'm certain there are people out there who would read this say, "I've had much worse days than this. This is nothing compared to what I've gone through." Well, those people would be right. I guess I have had a rather sheltered life if this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. But the worst part was having to deal with it all by myself. That could make just about any minor incident hard to bear.