Intern Chick

Yesterday I wore heels to work, and I got sent out on a lot of walking errands. So today I wore big comfy cuddly snow boots, because when the Big Boss comes in, it's a guarantee I'll be going somewhere, at least once.

A few hours after I'd been at work, Vin asked me to go meet Big Boss at the cell phone store. I looked up where the store was and asked what I was going there to do (its always good to be prepared) and Vin casually said, "She just needs you to sit in her car while she goes in the store." I thought "oh" casually, this sounds easy enough and I was on my way. Vin gave me his metro card so I could get there fast and told me to call her on her cell phone when I got there and to look for her car, its a BMW. As I was sitting on the train I started to think about how this little task would play out. I pictured her running into the store, and me sitting there waiting. Easy enough.

Then my mind started to race. What if someone came and told me I had to move the car? Would I have to drive it? Where would I even drive it to? Why can't I just go in the store for her and SHE sits in the car? I can't do this, why can't Vin do it?! He drives her car all the time.

I finally got there, and by there, I mean 6th Avenue and 42nd street, you know, really close to Rockefeller Center where they'd be lighting the Christmas tree in a few hours. The traffic was INSANE. This was not what I pictured at all. I slowly pulled out my cell phone and told Big Boss I was at the store, she said she was looking for a spot or somewhere to pull over and told me what street she was on. I walked down a block or two and found her sitting at a red light. We hung up the phone and she pulled down her window and asked what I thought she should do. I stuttered and stumbled over my words...like I know ANYTHING about driving around midtown Manhattan in a mob of Christmas tourists.

Before I knew it, she'd grabbed her bag and hopped out the car, leaving the door open and the car running and said, "Here, you drive it..just circle around the block" and was walking up the street before I could protest. WHAT?????? This is exactly what I didn't want to happen! I just stood there, dumbfounded, trying to process this in my mind. Did she really just leave her car running at a red light on 6th avenue and tell me to drive it?

Did I mention this was a BMW?

I guess she looked back and still saw me standing there, so she called out behind her, "You do know how to drive, don't you??" I yelled, "Y-y-yea..I know how to d-drive" I looked inside the car for a moment, trying to calm myself down, and all of a sudden remembered, "WAIT!!! Is this a standard?!!?" She turned around and said that yes, it was. I thought GREAT! I don't know how to drive a standard, glad thats over. Then she said, "I mean, no it isn't. I mean..you don't need a stick to drive it" Great, I was stuck now, I had no excuse. So I got in. First, I had to figure out how to put the seat back, because Big Boss is actually Tiny Boss, she barely even comes up to my shoulder. There were a ton of buttons, no bar that you pull that moves the seat back like in a regular car for us middle class people. This was not my Mercury that I'm used to. So I started pushing the buttons, the seat went up & down and up & down...that wasn't right. I pushed a few more, the seat back went forward & backward, forward & backward, the side mirrors went up and down, left and right. The seat wouldn't budge. I pressed another and got it to move just a little, but that sent the mirrors into a frenzy and I couldn't see out of them. I put the car into drive and slowly took my foot off the break, I went to press the gas pedal and I couldn't find it, I swore it wasn't there! I felt like I was in some type of horrible nightmare. My boots were too big for the tiny gas pedal, I stepped on the break with my left foot and slowly felt around for the gas. Finally I turned onto 41st Street and went ever so slowly. Big Boss had turned the hazard lights on when she pulled over and I couldn't find that little red triangle button to save my life. I looked everywhere. Meanwhile, a line of cars behind me was beeping and cussing at me. I reached a red light finally, found the button and turned those annoying lights off with a hard push. At least that was settled. I was in such a state of shock when I got in the car that when I put my seat belt on, I tangled my iPod wire in it and now had to leave it that way, while Keyshia Cole blared from the headphones. This was awkward.

I circled around once. It took about 10 minutes, still no call from the Big Boss. I kept seeing signs that said to avoid the streets I was driving on because of the tree lighting...great, who else but me would be stuck in this predicament on such a day? So I went to circle around again. By this time I started to feel like I was in a bad video game. Driving the same track over and over. Dodging obstacles in the road (trucks unloading, dumpsters, cars cutting you off every which way), watching out for people jumping in the road, and swerving through crazy driving cars.

I kept thinking about how hard it is to drive in New York City, and that I'd only done it once before for just a few minutes. Why did my first time have to be in my boss' BMW??? More than 20 minutes had gone by, and I kept hoping she would call as I was passing the store, because if she called after I'd passed it, she'd have to wait 10 minutes for me to get around. Finally, Vin called. I answered the phone and he must have heard the fear in my voice because he said, Intern Chick??? Is that you?? Are you okay??? You sound terrified! All I could muster was "yea, I'm...fine." He said Big Boss was ready for me, just at the time I was approaching the cell phone store. Big Boss got in the driver's seat and I got in the passenger seat. I mumbled an apology about having to move her seat, luckily she was on an important call so I dodged the bullet of having to talk about it.

Phew, I'd made it. It wasn't so bad once I actually did it (and of course, after I figured out how to turn the hazard lights off). Yet another example of how your internship will force you to do things you never thought you could do, and show you that you can, in fact, do it.

My task for tomorrow? Fill Big Boss' new cell phone with ring tones.