Who knew a car wash could be so exciting?
We pulled up to the automatic car wash and saw a man holding what looked like a magic wand. He was standing a few yards away from a car, watching it get scrubbed clean. For all intensive purposes, it looked like he was pulling some useful Harry Potter type magic to get the washing done.
We watched in awe. Then we realized there was no one in the car. Ooo, magic car!
Then we saw that the wand was an antenna and the car in the wash was in fact his car. We were puzzled as to why he was not in his car. That is the whole point of a car wash. It's uber-fun to see it from the inside out. Later when I read the ever-so-helpful instructions, I found that it is "interdit" to stay in the car. Not allowed. Sad day.
So he finished and screwed the antenna back on. I had been clever and unscrewed mine while I waited. I know I was just buckling to peer pressure but sometimes it's not a bad idea.
Then I read the instructions. Apparently I didn't read them quite well enough but we'll discuss that later on. I did learn that I had to get a card or a code to use the machine. How annoying. Hannah and I went inside the gas station and I paid for a code on a piece of paper.
I pulled the car into its proper position and started the machine. About 30 seconds after the red and white swishy things started swirling at full speed, with soap and water flinging everywhere, I noticed that the brushes were coming dangerously close to my side mirrors. Oh crap.
I checked the instructions again. Yep, that arrow was definitely referring to the mirrors. Oops. I waited in a semi-shocked state of mild terror. The brushes passed from the back to the front of the car. When it finally became visible, there was my mirror, hanging by a thread. It was bad but really, pathetically funny.
At that point, all I could do was wait. Then it was finished, we got back into the car, nervously laughing. I pulled into the parking lot and got out to assess the damage. In reality, it's not too bad. Not really even noticeable now that I've fixed it. But still, it was just so perfect, we had to get a picture to remember this day always.
And to top it all off, instead of dirt and pollen, my car is now coated with white, drippy soap stains. Was it worth it?
My poor, sad Fiesta. I never meant to hurt you. Forgive me?
Poor car. I did that to the antenna on the station wagon one time. I don't know if you remember that or not. I thought we could leave the car running and listen to the radio while the car was washing, but it didn't work out that way. While the car was on the antenna was up and it wasn't supposed to be. When those washer brushes hit it, it toppled like a pine tree after several days of rain. I don't remember what we did about it, but we must have eventually replaced the antenna. I'm sure we had to listen to cassettes for a while, though.
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