Locked Garage

As a foreigner, making my way through countries not my own, I know, and people tell me, that I will make mistakes.

I will meander my way through with right and wrong guesses and correct and incorrect assumptions. I will incorrectly assume that it is acceptable to use the handicapped restroom if it is vacant. I will spend an hour talking with my housekeeper about something that, had we both spoken the same language, would take minutes. And I will most likely struggle with how a line forms and where my place in that line should be.

Last night, we made one of our wrong guesses. We assumed something, based on what we knew from ouer lives in America, and were presented with a rude awakening.

We went out for Indian food with our friend Deana, a fellow resident of JB's from Eglin who is now stationed here in Germany. Delicious food. Great company. And a leisurely stroll back to the city parking garage where we had left our vehicles less that two hours earlier.

When we returned, this is what we found:

The city garage had closed! Have you ever heard of such a thing? Shut tight! Deana and JB tried to break in. Deana ran around the entire building. Lights off. Doors locked. Our cars stuck inside. (The depth of what had occurred was made worse by the fact that Deana had left her ID card inside her car -- an ID card that allows her to function at work. Without it, she'd be completely lost the following day.)

When we first rounded the corner, we were all so shocked, no words were exchanged. Deana then went to calling friends to get us a ride. But then she found a phone number on one of our ticket stubs which lead her to another number where we were told that, for 15 euros, someone would come in and let us retrieve our car. Of course, Deana spoke only English and the nice German on the phone said he didn't speak English. (I've learned, however, though that Germans notoriously downplay how much English they know. If I knew as much German as they knew English, I'd consider myself fluent!) And the language barrier made us nervous as we waited for the man to arrive. Would he really come?

For an extra 15 euros (on top of the 5 euros it cost to park there) we were able to go home with our vehicles. And, indeed, there was a sign, written in German, that informed us this garage closed at 8:30pm.

I'm not sure I'll ever park in a garage, anywhere, even in the USA, without some serious consideration from this point forward.

Live and learn!