Following Directions

One of the best aspects of writing (fiction and novels in particular), is there are no rules or directions to follow. Well, that being other than telling one hell of a story. Yeah, fool around and tell a drop dead gorgeous story, and you won't even need to know what literature means... let alone punctuation, structure and the thousands of niggling practices book czars typically nit-pick over.

And this is what makes this particular story so humorous (to me).

As introduced, following directions is NOT one of my more fascinating suits. Yeah, if I must, I  might, but if I don't, I won't.  And so here I go, back to one year when it was left up to me to take my vehicle in for service. Without going into how things were 20/30 short years ago, I was among the women who didn't involve myself in automobile dealings. But my car needed service and my husband trusted me to handle the small detail. I think it was something like an oil change. At any rate, he gave me explicit directions. He knew how I was. And knew how they were. It had happened before. I had gone in (to what I often referred to as 'the chop shop') to get a couple of tires and left with bells and whistles the car absolutely did not need.

So he tells me, "now, they're going to tell you, you need this, that and the other, but I only want you to get the (blah, blah) package, AND NOTHING ELSE!"

And so off I went, repeating to the man at the desk my husband's instructions verbatim. I left nothing out, nor added anything.

But wouldn't you know it. Almost word for word, going straight down a script, I was told how I needed this, that and the other, and if I didn't get this, that and the other, then the other, that and this was going to happen. This time however, I stuck with my script, repeating my instructions. And the mechanic stuck with his script. Truthfully, I thought the guy was calling my bluff. He didn't think I had a man, let alone a husband.

This was where things got plenty comical. I told the guy I needed to call my husband and get his approval. And he waited, looking at me like, "yeah right, go ahead. I've got to hear this... so called husband... 😆."

Well, let me put it this way. I didn't need a speaker phone, which I didn't have, when my husband heard my question. He liked to have come through that phone as he yelled, "I TOLD YOU ...dot dot dot dot dot...!!!"

Oh man, that was so funny! That mechanic looked at me as if I had just walked off the last 'Leave it to Beaver, All in the Family, Mayberry Farms TV set!' 😂. 

This post was inspired by a book I just received, 'Aunt Hattie's Cookbook' by Hattie N. Washington. Opening this book made my day. It is absolutely beautiful to look at, what sent me on my little happy storytelling rant. Not a problem was my first thought, in so far as following directions. I think I'm equipped enough (with my love of cooking and writing experiences) to know which instructions I can improvise, tweak, and break!😅 (Other thoughts here).  

#Inspiration #HUMOR #Passion #Storytelling #StillWriting #JustBlogged