Hoodwinked

Call me simple-minded, but in my world a hood that has been slammed down and not since reopened should stay shut. Such an assumption proved to be utterly fallacious, however. See exhibit A below:



Here's the story: I'm driving home from church on the freeway going about 70 mph when all of a sudden my hood flies up, shatters my windshield and sends my rearview mirror flying. And since I didn't pay extra for a transparent hood, I have zero visibility. Hoping that there's a clear shoulder on my right and nobody close behind me, I slow down and pull over to the side of the freeway. I get out of the car and put my hood down, only to discover that it is now too mangled to shut properly. What to do? Call my husband? (Nope - he's MIA) The police? (How embarrassing!) Wait for a prince in shining armor to gallop up and save this damsel in distress? (Fat chance!) So, I put on my hazard lights, pray that the hood will stay down, and creep along to the next exit. A nice woman followed me into a parking lot after I exited. Apparently, she had watched the drama and followed me. She kindly asked if I was o.k. and offered to help. Just then, her husband happens to drive by -- she flagged him down and he pulled over. Luckily, he had rope in his car and tied down my hood. Now I could drive the rest of the way home with the peace of mind that my hood was not going to fly up; whether or not my windshield would crumble to bits was still a question. The hundreds of glass shards inside the car did not add to my confidence.

Thankfully, I made it home safely. As the nice rope man observed, "You're very, very lucky. Hoods and windshields can be replaced. You can not be replaced." It's true - this incident could have so easily been a tragedy. Can't help but think a few of my guardian angels put in some overtime hours yesterday. . . .

(Note to self: Next time you have an inkling that the hood of your car is protruding slightly, take immediate action!)