CURBSIDE ETIQUETTE

Through the Eyes of a Delivery Goddess



Below you will find links to dates when new entries are added. The stories will not necessarily be in chronological order, but rather as I remember them. I am dating them so that you can skip to new ones you haven't read since the last time you visited, and so that you are more easily able to find something you found humorous to share with others.
Curbside Christmas 2010


  Since I told a story around Christmas 2009 about someone who did something very "touching" for me, I thought I'd take this year and tell you something a group of people did for someone else. Some of you have heard about this "gift", some of you were part of it. To each and every one that had any participation, in any way, shape or form with this one... THANK YOU!!

Shortly after I started at the junkard, I learned that Mrs.B had a Volkswagen Bug she absolutely LOVED, but it blew a head gasket almost five years ago and has been waiting for someone to fix it. You've heard the saying "The Cobbler's kids never have shoes" ... just because everyone working at a junkyard is car-knowledgable, doesn't mean it's gonna get fixed. In June or July (we can't remember), I twisted the arm of a former junkyard mechanic and asked him to start trying to re-assemble the Bug. Mr.McD said that rebuilding an auto that's been disassembled for over five years was about as easy as a five thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle made from a photo of nothing but the clear, blue sky. Hey, I never promised him easy! As time went on, more and more people were included for one reason or another, but in the end, every employee (and a few friends) knew that December 23, everyone was to meet for a lasagne lunch made by Mrs. H - the wife of our head dismantler in the yard - (which was awesome, by the way) and Bob contributed some of his better than good Stromboli for us, too. Plans changed several times on Thursday, but here's what finally went down.

Mr.B had a doctor's appointment in Pittsburgh, and took the four-wheel-drive, leaving Mrs.B stranded at home. So Mr.McD trailered the car over and pulled it into Mrs.B's typical parking space. Then Mr.SJ who drives our home heating oil delivery truck pulled his big takner truck across behind the bug so that when Mr. and Mrs.B arrived, the bug would be hidden. When we learned that Mr. and Mrs.B were getting close to arrival, we summoned all of those involved to hide behind the tanker truck. As the B's pulled in, Mrs.B complained to Mr.B about the tanker truck and how stupid it was of Mr.SJ to park it across in front of the parking area. She then proceeded to try and make Mr.B pull across the street into the customer parking lot while Mr.SJ moved the tanker. Mr.B stared straight out the front window, waiting for Mrs.B to notice the Bug parked there with a big silver wind-up key sticking out of the back window, and a big red bow on the windshield. It took her ten or fifteen seconds to finally look out and see all of the people, employees and friends, gathered behind the tanker truck. As they sea of people parted, she finally noticed the Bug. Her mouth opened to nearly fill her entire face. She covered her eyes, then took another look. Yes, it really WAS her car!!! Shaking, she opened the door of their Explorer. Stunned and a little teary-eyed, she was speechless. We encouraged her to take a ride. She made light of the wind-up key Mr.McD so cleverly taped to the back window, which actually remained attached while she tooled around the block. The large, round "Holy Cow" mouth was soon replace with a very large Cheshire Cat Grin.

We made her Christmas.

Thanks to Mr.McD who did all of the work, piecing together the muted puzzle. It truly does warm the heart to give!

Last Year's Curbside can be found here: January 4, 2009