The Advantages of Owning a Cell Phone If You Drive

It started out like any other New Orleans morning. I got up, went to the bathroom and plopped down in front the computer to check for new email. The thunderstorms of the night before seemed to have subsided and the sun was out. I didn't linger at the computer this morning as I usually did because I was going to have to go out shortly and I had a full day planned.

Someone I knew needed a ride to work from Midcity to Harvey on the west bank, and instead of taking a cab, had wanted to offer a friend the money to convey him to his destination. It was kind of inconvenient for a number of reasons and out of the way as well, not to mention the time factor, but it turned out someone else was visiting from out of town and we were planning to meet that morning and I would have to drive to Marrero to meet her.

My other half and I usually start our Sundays with brunch at one of our favorite restaurants and then we take care of our errands and shopping and spend some quality time in the evening before resuming the work week. It's the only time we have for doing this because of his work schedule, which had recently changed to include Sunday mornings as well (which had eliminated brunch). On this particular morning it turned out he hadn't had to work so it seemed that things were working out all around even though I would lose and entire day of writing and creating.

I made the drive from uptown to Midcity, took my friend to work, picked up my other friend and started the drive back towards New Orleans. About a third of the way up the overpass over the Harvey Canal the car made a weird noise and stalled a few yards from the top. I was in the right hand lane so I had started moving toward the shoulder as soon as the noise started.

I immediately got out my cell phone and called my mechanic (who was out of town) to tell him in detail what had just happened. We had spoken just a few hours ago about the car and its performance and he had a pretty good idea of what was going on with it. Since he was in Atlanta, he was unavailable to come to my rescue and I had let AAA go during one of those periods I'd been without a paycheck.

Sitting atop the overpass in the hot car looking down at the canal with my well-meaning passenger chirping away in my ear about New York and the police and roadside assistance I tried to think about what my options were. I needed someone who could at least pull me down off the bridge and to someplace nearby so I could figure out what to do.

My father, who lives on the west bank, was at work but sometimes came home during breaks. I had already called my other half to let him know I wouldn't be getting back anytime soon and that he may as well go ahead and eat without me. I whipped out the mobile again and texted my dad 911. He wouldn't be able to leave work for a couple hours but he called my stepmother. In the time I was waiting for her to arrive, a state police cruiser pulled up behind us. The officer told me to put the car in neutral and he would push me back into the right lane and down off the bridge. As I started to steer back into the lane I told my friend now was the time to pray.

We made it down to the bottom without incident and I ended up back in the parking lot where I had started out on the west bank that morning. The only problem was that by that point, both my stepmother and the tow truck would be looking for me atop the bridge just before the canal.

The officer left us and I took out my phone once again to give an update on our status. My friend had called someone to come and get her and when he arrived he'd wanted to look under the hood to see if he could find the problem. I was pretty sure there was nothing he could do, but I popped the hood anyway.

The car's performance had been a little funny for a bit and my mechanic and I had been discussing the possible causes. That morning he had said that I must have a leak somewhere, but since I was still driving and since he hadn't told me to stop driving, I hadn't thought of it as being that serious.

As soon as I turned the key in the ignition, the friend of my friend was able to see exactly what the problem was and confirmed the leak in the fuel line. I step out the car to look and another car pulls up with a man with a large tropical bird on his shoulder. He gets out to add his two cents into the mix and at this point, there are six people standing around the car besides me discussing the hose situation and I am starting to feel like I am in a Fellini film.

My mechanic calls back, I confirm the leak and tell him exactly where it is. He tells me he'll be back in town mid-week and he'll take care of it then. The man with the bird, my friend and her friend all make their departures, leaving me and my stepmother standing in the sun waiting for the tow truck.

I do not want to imagine what this ordeal would have been like if I had not had my phone to call for assistance. There are still a great number of people who don't own any type of mobile phone and many of them do not hesitate to disparage them to those of us who do. While it may not be a necessity in life to own a cell phone, it certainly makes a big difference to have one when you find yourself stranded atop an overpass on a busy highway looking down at a canal.