This is the start of my most frustrating work days so far. I’m a driving instructor and use a car provided by the company I work for. Due to decisions made by coworkers, our boss has decided that on any day we aren’t working, our car must be left at the Home Base. Home Base is the town our office is located in and where most of our work is done, but none of us actually live there; we all live thirty-five to sixty minutes away. Prior to this decision, we each kept our car at our homes.
Now, since I only work part-time, I leave my car in the designated location on Wednesdays and get a ride home from a family member if one is in town, or my spouse picks me up. On Mondays, we drop our kiddo off at preschool and then drive into town to get my car and begin my work day. I’m usually running late on Mondays.
This particular Monday, I’m running later than usual and get to my car about ten minutes after my first lesson was supposed to begin. The first thing I notice upon starting up the car is that the gas light is on, even though I know I left it with at least a third of a tank. [Coworker #1] never puts gas in anyone else’s car if he has cause to use it (like a tire leak on his car), so I grumble about him and decide to pick up my student first and we’ll start the lesson by teaching them how to pump gas.
I get about thirty feet down the road when the car dies. Every light pops up on the dash. While I’ve been driving for a while, I don’t have a lot of experience with car failure. I call [Coworker #2] who works in the office and tell him I think my car ran out of gas, but it could be something else, also. He comes over to help me.
While I’m waiting, I call my student, apologize profusely, and explain that I won’t be able to do the lesson that day due to car trouble. Fortunately, they’re understanding about it. [Coworker #2] shows up, helps me get my car a little more to the side of the road, and confirms that it is out of gas. He goes off to get a gas can, and I wait again.
He comes back with quite possibly the smallest gas can I’ve ever seen. He puts the single gallon in, my car starts, and we head over to the nearest gas station, less than half a mile down the road. [Coworker #2] follows me just in case the problem is bigger than being out of gas. I’m glad he did!
I pull up to a pump, and as I go to get out, I see a huge puddle spreading under my car! I crouch down and see gas pouring out of my gas tank. As my coworker joins me, I say, “I don’t think I can blame [Coworker #1] for this one.”
[Coworker #2] crouches down and sees that two holes have been drilled into the bottom of my tank. He calls our boss, and I run inside to let the gas station workers know that their pumps are fine, but there is a gas spill out in the lot. One of them comes out, helps push my car back, and starts to sop up the gas with kitty litter.
When my boss arrives, he gives me the keys to his work car, and I use that for the rest of the day. The rest of my day continues to be chaotic but likely not interesting until my final student of the day.
The schedule says I am picking her up directly from the high school, which is unusual. We usually pick the school’s students up from the convenience store across the street. I am back on schedule and have about fifteen minutes before the lesson is scheduled to start, so I decide I’ll start at the convenience store, and if I don’t see my student by the time of the scheduled start, I’ll go over to the school.
The start time comes, I do a quick walk around the parking lot (it wouldn’t be the first time I missed a student because they were behind a bush or something), and I don’t see anyone. To the school office I go!
Me: “Hi, I’m here to pick up [Student].”
Secretary: “Hmm, she doesn’t have an off-campus pass, and you aren’t on the approved pick-up list. Her mom will have to call us to release her.”
I call [Student]’s mom and tell her I’m at the school to pick up her daughter.
Mom: “Oh, yes, I’ll call the school to let them know.”
I’m internally rolling my eyes at this not already being done, but I don’t say anything as I know my annoyance is heightened by the other events of the day. I hear the secretary send the call out over the walkie-talkies for the school security guard to get the student from class. It should be just a couple of minutes, then.
Ten minutes later, I’m still waiting. It turns out that [Student] doesn’t have a class this period, so they don’t actually know where she is. She could be pretty much anywhere on campus. The security guards are looking for her.
Fifteen minutes after the scheduled start of the lesson, the mom calls me.
Mom: “She’s on her way to [Convenience Store]; she’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Me: “I’m at the school; I can just meet her in the office.”
Mom: “No, she’s on her way to the store. Also, she doesn’t have her permit, so her dad is on the way to [Convenience Store] to give it to her.”
Me: “Okay. We will all meet at [Convenience Store] then.”
It doesn’t take long to get to the store as it’s directly across the street. I think it took longer to walk from the school office back to my car. Regardless, the mom calls me again as I’m parking.
Mom: “My daughter is there and says she can’t find you.”
Me: “I literally just parked. I see your daughter; she’s crossing the parking lot toward me right now.”
Mom: “I can’t believe you weren’t there! My daughter has been waiting for you!”
Me: *In my best customer service voice* “I’m very sorry for the confusion, ma’am. Your daughter and I have made contact now. We’re just waiting for her permit to get here.”
Mom: “So, the lesson is two hours starting from now, right?”
I take a deep breath. This is my last student, and I’m really looking forward to going home. It is now twenty minutes past the scheduled lesson time. If it’s my fault the lesson gets a late start, I’m fully willing to stretch the time and make it a full two-hour lesson. Due to her not having her permit, and the mix-up of where to pick her up not being my fault, I could just cancel the lesson entirely. My boss would be on my side for it.
But this mom has signed her daughter up for TEN LESSONS. The legal requirement here is six hours of driver training, which is three lessons. This girl is getting more than three times the amount she needs. And I already know she’s not a bad driver, as I had her for her first lesson. This is her sixth. It literally does not matter if the lesson is two hours or an hour and a half; she has already surpassed the requirement and gotten her certificate of completion.
Me: “No, ma’am. The lesson will end at 5:00 as scheduled.”
Mom: *Blustering sounds* “Well, when was it supposed to start?!”
Me: “At 3:00. And I was ready to begin the lesson at that time. The lesson will end at 5:00.”
Mom: “Fine.” *Hangs up*
The student told me as we waited for her dad to arrive with the permit that she didn’t even know she had a driving lesson that day and that when her mom called her to tell her, she’d been in line at the sandwich shop down the road. She’s a sweet kid. I avoid contact with her mom as much as I can. I got her home right at five o’clock and went home to take a nap.
