Parent Val Put Her Helicopter Up On Blocks Too Soon!

You'd think that Val's days of helicopter-parenting were over. Okay. Maybe you wouldn't. But with The Pony having spent the past year at home with us, and now with a full-time job keeping him out of the house 40 + hours a week, we've gotten into a routine. He's right here! We know he's okay. He's not 9 hours away, sick without a ride to urgent care.

 

Monday night, Hick and Val's hearts were in their throats. Choking them! In a panic-y kind of way.

 

The Pony worked 7:30 to 4:00 last week, and was home by 4:30. Mid-week, his hours changed to 9:00 to 5:30. Home by 6:00. He'd send a text as he was starting home. Just because that's what our family has always done. I'd leave my mom's house after a visit, and she'd want a call when I got home. That's just us. Friday night, The Pony had to wait on his supervisor to push his new-hire partner when her LLV (Long Life Vehicle) broke down on the street. Again, he sent a text to inform of lateness, and arrived home around 7:10.

Monday was a rainy day. Stands to reason that a mail route would take a little longer. The Pony said when he left that his hours would be "9:00 to whenever it gets done." I was making spaghetti. I said I wouldn't even start it until 6:00, and I'd leave his sauce separate in case he wanted to add more spices. The Pony said to text him at suppertime if he wasn't home, and he'd let me know. Hick likes mushrooms and hamburger in his, so I went ahead and mixed his together.

I didn't hear from The Pony. I figured he was busy finishing his route. I mixed his noodles in his sauce and set it on the back burner. Hick ate his spaghetti and garlic toast. I washed the dishes. Hick wondered out loud where The Pony was. I wondered the same thing myself. It was 7:30 p.m. Getting dark.

"I guess he's finishing up."

 

"I sent him a text, and he never replied."

 

"Maybe he had to do a route in Bill-Paying town. And he's headed back to the main post office. And can't look at his phone. That takes 20 minutes."

"Have you heard from him?"

"No. My text doesn't even show 'read'."

"I guess he's okay. It's getting dark."

"He has a headlamp!"

"My buddy says he sees his mail getting delivered at 7:30-8:00."

"Yeah. Maybe he got that route..."

"You'd think he could take 5 seconds to send us a text."

"Maybe his phone went dead."

"Here. I'm calling him. Huh. Went straight to voice mail..."

"He might be on the way home right now, with a dead phone."

"Maybe."

Time passed. At 8:15 I was getting worried-er.

"We don't even have a number to call to check on if he got back from his route. What should we do if he doesn't come home?"

"I'm sure they'd know if he didn't finish his route..."

"IF they could contact him. At what point will we REALLY worry that something's wrong? 10:00? Midnight? It worries me about the phone going to voice mail. What if he was in a wreck and nobody found him? [The week he started, a rural carrier was hit head-on. She's still in the hospital with two broken legs and internal injuries.] What if his phone is under water!"

"It didn't rain that much."

"I mean, he could have driven off into a pond or lake. The brakes on those trucks aren't good!"

"I don't know."

"I guess I'll go downstairs. Can't sit here just worrying about him. Where are you going?"

"I'm driving over there to see if his car is still parked at the post office. Then we'll know he's still on the route."

I listened for the dogs to bark when somebody came home. Maybe Hick would meet The Pony on his way, and they'd both be home any minute. Nope. At 8:45, the house phone rang. I heaved a sigh of relief. When I looked, it showed an incoming call from Hick. I figured he'd found The Pony.

"His car's not here, Val."

"He's not home, either. Are you in the right lot?"

"I've looked at the lot by the old unemployment office, where he says they park. And the other one up by Subway. I've even driven through their underground parking garage. His car isn't here."

"Maybe you passed him..."

"I can't see cars passing me in the dark. I didn't meet him on the gravel or the county road. He's an adult now. Maybe he went out and didn't tell us. Maybe he turned his phone off."

"That's not like him. He was looking forward to spaghetti. He just bought new post office shoes. It's not like he was going to disappear."

"I don't know what else to do."

"Me neither. I guess he's okay... that nobody knocked him in the head to steal the mail. Or dragged him into a house and tied him up... I guess at worst, we can call the office tomorrow and find out if he finished the route and clocked out..."

THE PONY GOT HOME AT 8:50 PM! I immediately sent Hick a text. A phone call is a long distance charge from the landline to our own cell phones. And my cell won't work in my lair except for texting.

"We were SO worried about you! We had no idea where you were!"

"I worked from 9:00 until 8:30. When I got to work, another LLV was broken down. The engine exploded. So there were NONE left. MAW [the middle-aged woman hired the same time as The Pony, with whom he's been working a route] had to use her own car again, because her LLV still isn't fixed. Mine was given to the engine-blower, I guess. Not that we have a certain vehicle assigned to us. I had to drive my own car today. Then we had to swap out some stuff on the route, due to me using my car. I got more of the walking deliveries today. And I had a whole extra load of packages that they said would take about an hour and a half, but took way more. Then my phone died with 20 percent power left..."

"You can call them on your scanner thingy, can't you?"

"Technically, yes. But nobody in any of the training sessions had any idea how to do that. So they have my number, and call me on my phone with instructions. Lucky I had let MAW know that my phone was going dead, and she told the supervisor. And MAW drove to find me on the route to tell me what I needed to do. I was getting ready to head back to the office to let them know about my phone, so I didn't get in trouble for not communicating."

"I guess you need one of those power pack thingies like Genius has."

"I'm taking my charger tomorrow. Even if I get an LLV. MOST of them have a working cigarette lighter that I can plug it into. Or I might have to use my car."

"So you might be this late again tomorrow?"

"There's a chance. Then I get a specific new route on Wednesday."

"Okay. We'll be prepared. Maybe send a text if it's 6:30 and you know you'll be late."

"It's not like I planned for my phone to die at 20 percent. Or I would have."

 

Sure, call us overprotective. But tell me you wouldn't have been worried about an overdue family member you couldn't contact. Meanwhile, I need to talk to Hick about getting my helicopter running again...