crisis of the day...

...on Friday was cause for another half-dozen unanswered calls in my pocket. He was coming north on the interstate (after spending four hours at the Infantry Museum, his two day a week jobette) when he had a problem with the carrier that hauls his motorized chair as needed. The lift is mounted on the back of his SUV, usually folded up, but extends out flat when he wants to load/haul the chair. Something broke, causing him to pull off, out of traffic, and be parked in the emergency lane with vehicles whizzing past. He did not know what to do. I don't know why he would have called me: there is absolutely nothing I could have done to help. In addition to being unwilling to go out on the six lane highway and stand by, wringing my hands in unison with his.

By the time I could answer my phone, the most current crisis had been resolved: a good Samaritan stopped, asked how he could help, and they loaded the very weighty chair into the SUV and he got home, mostly intact.  I heard the short version when I finally called back, long after the situation was no longer urgent. Got home, and found him sitting in the dark, frustrated, irritated, aggravated and annoyed.  He related the whole sordid tale and said that one of the welds on the trailer hitch where the lift is mounted broke loose. Convinced he does not want to get it repaired, as it will surely break again. I asked where he could get a new one, and he waffled, pulling numbers out of thin air for how expensive a replacement would be.

This indicates to me that he does not want to do this, has no desire to buy a new trailer hitch. I know he has been pondering the purchase of a van that could load the mobility chair into the vehicle. So it would be transported inside the vehicle, out of the weather. My educated guess is that he will proceed with that plan, decide it is time to trade and get another. Which would be perfectly ok with me except that he cannot get the insurance that will pay it off should he wink out.  Cannot say what he will do to resolve this current situation. I do know he was pretty morose last night.

As my cuz. often says: "more will be revealed". I have been trying to do better at keeping my mouth shut, waiting to see what other people say. Thinking (like you read in detective stories) that 'people will keep talking if you keep listening'.  Expecting if I can keep quiet long enough, not offer advice, he will come to his own conclusions. The reality of Not Expressing My Opinion is very difficult. I'm working on it...

I did suggest, while he was sitting there in the dark, that he could have called 511 for rescue. He said 'I did not think of that.'  (It's not just for flat tires, right?) He was aggravated that with no way to load/unload his chair he could not go to his volunteer job on Saturday afternoon. I said, 'I am sure you can find some strong willing backs to unload your chair to use at the Museum when you go tomorrow'.