Rainy Carpool

Q1 1991

My first job out of college was in Southern California. I was one of thousands of employees at this office and there was a charge to park your car on premises. The deal was that you either (1) park on premises and pay a monthly fee, (2) park off premises and walk in from a few city blocks away, (3) or you carpool. The employer’s carpool numbers were tracked by a local government agency. [This may be required of employers in Los Angeles County with more than a specific number of employees.] I was subsequently encouraged to do this and I did.

I was 23 years old and my carpool ‘buddy’ was a nice married woman of about 40 with two kids. Conversation was typically light and pleasant, but generally little more than polite chit chat implemented to avoid awkward silence.

One afternoon, as work let out, there was quite a healthy rain falling. I suggested to her that I dash the 200 feet to my vehicle, I drove that fateful day, and drive back to the building to pick her up. I thought it was gentlemanly to spare her exposure to the heavy rain.

Without waiting for her response, I ran, retrieved the vehicle, drove back to the building where we had been standing, and found no carpooler. I was confused?

As it turned out, she had run after me and trailed quite significantly. Age difference, physical fitness, shoe styles (my flat loafers versus her heels), every disadvantage was on display for my carpooler during this unintended foot race on this crummy wet day. She could not reach me before I got to the vehicle, unlocked, buckled in, started and drove away.

She was quite wet from the downpour and in poor spirits by the time she finally ran all the way back to the building where I was now parked looking around.

She was unhappy, understandably so, and expressed surprise that I did not hear her calling to me as I got to the car and drove away. I innocently pled ignorance. It was loud with the rain and the sound of my own wet running footsteps.


Sorry for your dampened state, carpooler. But it was no intentional sabotage.
-klem