[This is Marie here, filling in for VW today...]
You know how some experiences stay etched into your brain, never to be forgotten? Do you get the willies when you think of certain things? For me, one such willie-inducer is the thought of rental cars in Florida. [Click More Pawprints to read the rest...]
It was probably 10 years ago when I visited the great peninsula of Florida with a former beau. We flew down with his brother and sister-in-law to visit his Mom in Ocala. It was March, and who doesn't want to get away from New York by the time March rolls around!? We left some nasty cold weather and headed for the Florida palm trees and sunshine. Ahh. What could be better?
We flew in to one of the bigger cities, rented a good-sized sedan, and drove to Ocala.
It was a lovely visit - sight-seeing, relaxing, soaking in the sunshine...
It was lovely til we discovered something in the rental car. Something that shouldn't have been there.
I was riding in the back seat of the rental car and saw something roll out from under the front seat. A piece of plastic tubing - about a foot long. And there was a bit of liquid in it. No, it wasn't a straw. It was more like medical tubing... With,... er, um, a yellowish liquid in it.
It seems that a prior renter had left their catheter tube behind. Yes, that's right - it was a catheter tube. We had a nurse in our party, who confirmed that that was indeed our uninvited passenger.
While I'm generally a very mild-mannered person, when I face an injustice - such as a catheter tube in the rental car that's in my name - I take the gloves off. Someone would have to deal with the Wrath of Marie. I made the phonecall, explaining that our car had not been properly cleaned. I described what we had found in the vehicle, in graphic detail, and stated that we'd be exchanging our car and would require a discount for our trouble.
There were no questions asked, other than to themselves (how the ....?), and we drove away with a clean car.
Just remember that, next time you rent a vehicle. Make sure the rental company has cleaned beneath the seats. You never know what surprises may lurk there.
Posted by practigal at August 25, 2005 01:45 PM | TrackBackEwww!!
Posted by: Oddybobo at August 25, 2005 02:32 PMOh no!! At first I thought you were going to say you found a condom. That is a very, very gross story, Marie. I think I will always remember to check now too!!
Posted by: MommaK at August 25, 2005 03:58 PMOMG That's awful.
Well, I suppose it could have been worse.... but not much...
Posted by: caltechgirl at August 25, 2005 04:33 PMgood think you didn't kick it out of the way and break it open! Might have got a free car then though.
Posted by: GUYK at August 25, 2005 06:47 PMBarf! Gag! Ack!
I thought you were going to say condom until you said a foot long...
Posted by: Bou at August 25, 2005 07:36 PMI found $20 under the seat of a Florida rental car. Much better than your find, but yours makes for a better story.
Posted by: marybeth at August 25, 2005 09:02 PMI think I'd rather find the twenty bucks.
How embarrassing for me that I forgot to take my catheter! :P
Posted by: Dave Diamond at August 26, 2005 06:20 AMI'm pretty sure we got more than a $20 discount on the car... so it was like finding both a catheter tube AND a few $20 bills! Quite the bonanza.
Dave, I should've known!!!
Posted by: Marie at August 26, 2005 06:36 AMYou said "willie-inducer"!
(This may be a funny only appreciated by Brits)
Posted by: lovelesshusband at August 28, 2005 05:55 PM