Dude…where’s my car!

I know most of the road warriors reading this blog have interesting stories to share themselves, but my travel stories always seem to have unique twists.

Today, for instance, I arrived for my early morning appointment at a Jacksonville-area (FL) hospital and quickly found a parking spot on one of the many nearby residential streets, about 250 yards from the hospital’s Emergency Department (ED) entrance. (SIDE BAR: I visit many different hospitals every year, so I have this routine I go through; from where I am going to park, to my building entry / exit points, making notes of the landscape, architecture, neighborhood, etc… essentially formulating a mental map of the area.) I grabbed my briefcase on wheels, closed the door, made a security sweep of the area, and then locked the doors by pressing the lock symbol twice on the keyset (verified “locked” by the audible honk /chirp of the rental car’s horn).

After I finished my meeting (it carried over a little longer than anticipated) I decided to grab a quick bite and a coffee. So, I said goodbye to the staff and headed for the exit. As I stepped through the ED’s doors, I was immediately blasted by the 90+ degree temps and high humidity of Florida. I walked briskly to my car, sweat pooling on my forehead, while I though about where I was going to eat for lunch. “I’ll have to punch something into my GPS and see what I find. Maybe Panera”, I thought.

I looked down the street to see if I could spot the silver Chrysler Pacifica. Nothing. “That’s strange. I thought I had parked the car right there.” Now I have to tell you. For just a microsecond, the thought crossed my mind that maybe I was mistaken about where I had parked that morning. After all, I’m human. I make mistakes. Right? So I lifted my right arm way up in the air and start pressing that handy lock button on the keyset, multiple times, in hopes of hearing the audible honk of the vehicle’s horn. Nope. The only sounds heard was the roar of passing cars and now, my elevated heartbeat. As the sweat saturated my dress shirt, I thought to myself, “Maybe the car was towed! That’s it. The car was towed because I parked in a 2-hour spot and I was about 20 minutes late leaving the meeting. So, someone must have towed the car!”

I did an abrupt about face and marched back towards the hospital. As I approached the hospital, I stopped and asked a lady (she was on her smoke break) if she had seen any tow trucks today (or ever, for that matter). She replied, “I’ve never seen anyone towed on this street before.”

“OK, thanks”, I uttered and kept strolling to the hospital, my mind racing through various what-if scenarios.

I stopped at the hospital security shack and inquired the security guard if he had ever seen anyone towed in the vicinity before.

“No, sir”, he replied. “I’ve never seen any car towed from here. Only if a car is disabled, would they tow it.”

There was a long pause. “You missing your car, sir?”

Another long pause.

“I think someone stole my rental car!” I blurted. I said it once more, just to hear my own voice. “Someone has stolen my rental car.”

“There’s a police officer right over there,” he pointed 20 yards from us. Sure enough, there was a deputy sheriff seated in his patrol car, enjoying the cool air conditioning of his police cruiser.

The security guard and I walked over to the police cruiser. The officer rolled down his window and asked what the problem was. I explained the situation to him and he said he was going to run the license plate, just to verify that the vehicle had not been towed. The officer was very professional and friendly.

The report came back quickly. No tow companies had the 2008 Pacifica. The vehicle was stolen.

The next few hours were filled with phone calls, reports being filed, and many asked questions. I had a late lunch (in the hospital cafeteria) and then finished my afternoon meetings at the hospital. Fortunately, one of the staff members offered me a lift to the airport to pick up another rental car.

So I now have another set of wheels (Dodge Magnum). Truth be told, the situation could have been a lot worse. Some of the hospital staff said that the crime in Jacksonville is really high; including four murders this past weekend and multiple car-jackings.

As of this posting they still haven’t recovered the vehicle. Someone is now a proud owner of my Garmin C340 GPS unit and our company’s pull-up display banner.

Am I angry or upset? Nope. Actually, throughout the entire experience I was pretty relaxed and calm. Maybe I was just a little agitated about having to file all the paperwork, but not too bad. Why? The reality is we live in a crazy, messed-up world. Things aren’t the way they should be. I don’t control much of anything, except my attitude. God is sovereign. He reigns supreme. And because of that, I gave the entire situation to Him. And you know what is really cool? He placed a few gracious, loving people in my path today and they made all the difference in the world. Thanks again Tom and Suzi! Your graciousness and kindness was appreciated.

God is good. And although He allows things to happen in our lives that we may not understand or seem to be "good" for us, He's got a plan. He's working all things together for good (Romans 8:28). He’s good all the time. He truly has the whole world in His hands.

Hey, I’d like to hear some of your stories. Please share them.

Signing off for now, but still running on faith.