May Gumbytron heap blessings on you and yours

Will C. Rogers III minivan destroyed by pipe bomb March 10, 1989 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I went to pick up my niece and nephew at the high school the other day and brought along a trash bag so I could
clean out my car while I waited in the loop line for them to come out because they often complain about how junky
queued up for their offspring and when I finished I went back to the driver’s seat only to realize that I had lost my
minivan key. My ONLY key.

A frantic search of all my pockets began (I have a lot of pockets) and then the compartments I had cleaned out.
The trash bag had split while I was stuffing it so I was forced to dump into a larger trash bag that contained old fitting
software for Mom’s programmable hearing aids she sells. I tore a whole in my jeans trying to do all this while keeping
the rear deck lid from banging into me in the February wind but no key.

My niece and nephew came out of the high school with their books and backpacks with puzzled and embarrassed looks
on their faces. I had to explain to them that I had lost my minivan key as people went around me in the loop line.
My nephew said, “I’m gonna get Matt to give me a ride home” and my niece said, “Call AAA!” as they both picked up their
books and bags and left me stranded in the school parking lot. I don’t have AAA. I re-examined all my pockets and all the
compartments I had cleaned and no key. I went to the back of the minivan, to the drooping deck lid and rifled through the
trash in the larger bag I had dumped everything in and got a nice black stain on my jeans. Frustration.

I lifted the larger bag of trash and programming software, and there lay my key. I drove home all by myself in a clean minivan.