Trials and Tribulations of a Single Mom - "Mother" of all Trips, Part III

In the last “Single Mom” segment, I talked about my son going to college at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. You would think, picking and dropping Baku from and back to school would be a routine affair, but not so in my case. It is funny how drama seems to follow me everywhere. Keep reading…

The last few trips from Northern Virginia to UVA and back had been pretty much uneventful, other than foggy winter weather a couple of times. This time I not only had to bring Baku back, I had to bring back a roomful of stuff since he had to clear out his dorm before leaving school for the summer. So when I left a few weeks ago in May to pick up Baku after his Freshman finals, I expected it to be a routine trip. Not so.

Trip to UVA - Preparation
After returning from work in early May, I started for UVA at about 6.00 p.m or so. That was a mistake to begin with as I was already exhausted after a long work-day and commute. But, I was very excited and did not want to delay Baku’s arrival home anymore, as he had been done with his finals since a couple of days earlier. I started out with my Bollywood disco music and my big hot cup of tea to pep me up for the drive…

Route 29
Going to Charlottesville is a straight trip down Route 29 and is a total distance of about 100 or so miles. On a clear sunny day, it is a beautiful two and half hour drive, but not late evenings when it becomes a bit tricky since the two-lane road is winding and visibility can be really poor during bad weather. Normally, I check the weather before leaving, but this time I didn’t since it all seemed clear and fine. Of course, as Murphy’s law dictates, about half an hour into the trip, I heard that there was a tornado watch in the UVA area. Too late to turn back, I continued in a foolhardy manner.

Caught in the Act!
After the typical delay due to traffic on the ever-busy Route 66, Route 29 was thankfully, totally empty. So with my music blaring and the caffeine flowing in my veins, I stepped on it and was flying down the road lost in my thoughts and enjoying the beautiful scenery in the dying daylight. I did notice somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind that the couple or so cars ahead of me had slowed down noticeably. Any savvy driver would have smelt a rat and taken the cue from that, but, not me. I just looked at those silly slow moving vehicles disdainfully and sped on thrilled to be making up for lost time. Lo and behold, I saw a police car right behind me and it was then I attempted to slow down. Eternal optimist that I am, I thought I had fooled him. Too late! He followed, I slowed and he bellowed at me through his bullhorn. In my agitation, with the now annoying music which I forgot to turn off, I stopped right in the middle of the road - well almost. Oh the ignominy of it all…

But This is My First Time!
“Ma’am please pull off the road”, he barked again through that damn device. ( You know, I almost had the strangest thought at that time that he was very rude-I guess, I regressed into princess mode as a defence mechanism!) It finally penetrated the fog in my mind, that this was truly happening… So now I collected myself and waited for him. “So Ma’am what’s the hurry, you were going at 76 mph in a 60 mile zone,” was his pleasant query. Thinking I had the most original excuse in the world, I tried to look desperate – not too difficult at this point – and indicated to him discreetly that I had badly needed to use the Ladies Room. (Later I was informed by my knowledgable son that, that this was the lamest and most used excuse in book.) The cop looked slightly amused and his expression seemed to say “Try again”. I did. “Ok, the truth is that I am making up for lost time to avoid the expected tornado and pick up my son from school,” I told him honestly this time with a truly pathetic look. “Oh yes, it is that time of the year,” he stated almost conversationally, now showing a flicker of empathy. “And Officer, this is the first time, I have ever been stopped for speeding”, encouraged by that tone, I continued proudly almost expecting him to pat me on the back instead. Still in that agreeable tone, he asked for my driver’s license and registration. He asked me to wait for a few minutes. Congratulating myself that I had won some brownie points because this was truly my first time, I waited a bit more confidently.

It Doesnt't Pay to Bargain!
The man returned with a wholly different tone and with paperwork for a $150 fine! I couldn’t believe it! Now my submerged Indian sense of bargaining came to the surface in full force. You know in India half the thrill of shopping is getting a great bargain which is based on true negotiation. So I started whining with that in mind, “Can’t you cut me some slack, Officer, this is my first time…” I think he looked a bit incredulous, then thoroughly entertained not even bothering to hide his grin when he answered that I could either pay by phone or come to the County court to challenge it, which by the way some experienced stalwarts in this speeding business told me is actually an effective way to reduce the fine. Like I believe them!!! Anyway I was really mad because not only did I get slammed, it started to rain heavily and became dark, the very situation I was avoiding. The whole episode delayed me by 25 minutes.

Mom My Cell Phone Drowned!
Wait, it doesn’t end here. So I restart my trip an hour away from UVA, at the boring 60 mph speed limit very somber and stressed when my precious son calls me. Here is the conversation. “Mama, I am calling you from a friend’s cellphone because my cell phone is not working. It got submerged in the water in my backpack because the water bottle I had in my bag leaked.” So, he continued, “When you reach my dorm building, call the dorm phone which also sometimes does not work, but I will be alert.” Maybe it was my karma catching up with me,but I thought I was going to burst a vessel. In a suppressed ominous tone, I told him to WAIT near the dorm phone and try to call me if he did not see his only mother there in the next couple of hours. Well I did reach somehow, but it was raining cats and dogs by the time I arrived and yes, Baku was waiting. I think he had picked up on my dangerously quiet tone and knew that he had better make sure he was there at the door to let me in immediately.

Mom Trapped in a Dorm - Good Grief!
So drenched,hungry and cold, I ran into Baku's dorm to wait out the thunder and lightening that was in its full majestic glory at this time… Feeling absolutely miserable and definitely undignified, I entered a room only to find four 19 year old frat boys watching a basketball game on Baku's TV (which meant it still needed to be packed), munching away and wondering how to behave with this sour middle-aged woman sitting in their midst,after the initial polite greetings were done with. This was going to be a very very long hour or so wait till Baku and I could even begin to think of even going outside much less load the car with the year-old clutter which to make matters worse was so horribly packed that it made me shudder to think of fitting all of it in our sedan… Baku is wise beyond his years, he could sense that his mother’s tolerance level had reached its threshold. So he quietly said as if he was the parent here, “Here mama check your email on my laptop". He knew that working on the computer would distract me from the most awkward of all situations. So there I was stuck in the dorm, genuinely needing to use the bathroom, with my back to these frat boys, typing away desperate emails to all and sundry… I would not wish this on my worst girlfriend!!!

Why Did You Not Empty the Car?
Finally when the thunder and lightening had decreased, but the rain was still coming down hard, we decided, we could not wait anymore and ran out into the pelting rain to load the car and there started the mom-son argument about how I had not emptied the car as he had asked and my rejoinder being that he certainly did not know how to pack and on and on. Anyway, we finally started on the trip back home at about 10.30 pm or so with no visibility either through the rear view mirror because the car was overloaded on the back seat or much visibility ahead because the tornado was now moving to our area. Baku was driving and he had to stop a few times, but we did reach home safely at almost 2:00 am. This was certainly a trip from hell and test of endurance on many fronts but it definitely strengthened the mom-son bond.

Is it Me?
When I was growing up, my friends and family always told me that they thought I was so much fun and there was never a dull moment because things always happened when I was around. I thought they were just teasing me but I am beginning to think that there must be some truth in that statement because I do seem to be one of those folks who just seems to attract drama… But it sure does make life exciting!