Sometimes Karma Hertz

As usual we woke up on the later end of things only to find out that we had a nice fat $30 parking ticket waiting to greet us. What did we do wrong? Parked in a no parking zone. C’est la vie.

We decided to go take care of the oil problem today. I talked on the phone to this very frustrating lady at Hertz. Our conversation went something like this:

Hertz lady: What’s the problem
Me: The car told me that it needs a oil change
Hertz lady: Ok. You can take it to a nearby Hertz. Where are you located?
Me: Washington DC
Hertz lady: Okay, so you’re in the state of Washington
Me: No, I’m in DC, the District of Columbia
Hertz lady: You’re in Columbia, Canada.
Me: No, I’m in the nation’s capitol, the capitol of the country
Hertz lady: So, what state is that in?

Needless to say, I was very frustrated. She finally found a suitable location to return the car and offered directions to the location. Not wanting to get frustrated again, I kindly refused and figured I’d take my chances and map it off the internet (911 18th St…got it). Now, hehhehheh, karma is truly a b****. We hopped into the car and headed to our destination only to find that there is no Hertz location there. You see, a DC newbie, like myself, would’ve never known that you divide the city in to NW, SW, NE, and SE. So, obviously it wasn’t SE. Let’s try NE. Nope, no such luck. Hmm…time for directions. And dag nab it, guess what. We not only have the direction (it was NW)…WE HAD THE WRONG DIRECTIONS! Ugh!

But really, it wasn’t all that bad. We gave ourselves a nice driving tour of the city. We saw Howard U, the capitol from different directions, and where all the real, normal people live. Manny kept saying that he now understands why people say LA has no character…

We swapped cars and started looking at the sights. It was really a humbling experience. Being in a city of so much history causes one to reflect. I’ll never forget being at the Vietnam Memorial in the middle of the night and the gentleman, who I assume was a Vet, who walked passed me with tears in his eyes, sniffling. Man…all those names, so many…unfathomable is the loss of human life during war (and that was just the US soldiers). The Lincoln Memorial at night is also awesome and inspiring, reminding me of my own heritage, the emancipation of black people and its pivotal role in where I have been and where I am going. Sigh…

Well, we returned back to our home away from home and settled in. It was truly an awesome day. I can’t believe I’m here.