Ah, the Smell of New Leather - Almost

My car died on I-95.

What could have been a disastrous calamity - the right shoulder was blocked by construction for several miles as the car lost power - turned out okay. Nobody was hurt. My car was irreparable and I had to buy another vehicle, but that was only a matter of spending money. (Not that I had planned to spend this money, but it could have been much, much worse.)

So, I thought I'd capture here the amazing fact that throughout this week of dealing with this major inconvenience, I kept my composure -- and so did the rest of my family, which as also obviously impacted by the loss of one of our family cars.

I'd like to praise AAA - my mother was a passenger in the car as we were traveling home from visiting relatives out of state. She is the AAA member. Thank goodness. Because we broke down in an extremely dangerous location, in the dark, AAA dispatched a tow truck that got to us in 30 minutes. Thank you very much, AAA.

What could have been a very bad experience was truly minimized that night by the effective and professional treatment we received - down to delivering the car to my local repair shop.

Since there were three of us in the car, AAA sent a truck that had sufficient seating for us all.

Believe it or not, despite it all, we only lost a little over 1 hour (and we were stranded 35 miles from home.)

I am now a real believer in AAA service. I realize not all experiences will be this quick and smooth, but it's a real comfort to know that you will never be left alone on the road without help if you have this membership.

I am very thankful all-in-all with how things worked out. Too bad the car was unable to be fixed. But, that was only a car. The people were just fine.