OPINION: Don't tow my car or make me listen to Rick Astley

Jul 14, 2012 (Opelika-Auburn News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Anger. Confusion. Despair. Bewilderment.

I'm near the heart of the World Center of Racing, also known as Daytona International Speedway, just three hours from the start of last Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 when I learn my vehicle had been towed.

Suddenly, I'm stranded in the middle of more than 100,000-plus highly-cultured race fans with no ride out and no clue where to park my car once it's recovered.

Ever been towed? Stinks doesn't it? Happens plenty around here -- especially in downtown Auburn on football Saturdays.

I wasn't in a tow-away zone. I parked in a lot full of other race enthusiasts. I just happened to arrive there before the folks collecting the $30 fee arrived, and left the car unattended. There were no tow-away warnings.

I'm told the lot was operated by a Daytona Beach-area Boy Scout group. Well, I didn't see a Boy Scout, Cub Scout, Eagle Scout, Webelos, or anyone that resembled a pack leader, but I did see a handful of campfires and men in Budweiser hats who possibly had roles in the 1970s film "Deliverance." Here I was three hours before the green flag and I've got to find where my car is, get to where my car is, figure out a way to retrieve my car from the good people who have it, return to the race track and find another parking spot, and hope it doesn't get towed again.

I instruct my wife, Kathy, and son, Joseph, to go ahead to the speedway's display area full of sponsorship tents, exhibits and doo-dads for sale, without me. That was an unnerving feeling.

Armed with a VISA and salty disposition, I was on a mission. A towing business in nearby Holly Hill held my Taurus hostage, and the ransom was $125. To get there, I hopped a ride in a taxi for the first time in years.

You know you're having a bad day when 1) your car is towed; 2) your spouse and child are alone in a place with drunk people who you aren't sure are sane when sober; 3) you're in a cab with a multi-tattooed, chain-smoking driver nick-named Chainsaw who must stop for smokes on the way; 4) Chainsaw can't find the towing lot; 5) and lastly, you're in the dirty backseat of a strange cab driven by a eccentric man, you're destitute, frustrated and hungry, and Rick Astley of all artists is blaring on the radio.

I don't know about you, but I didn't need to hear " Never Gonna Give You Up ..." at the time. First, Rick Astley's voice makes my skin crawl. Second, tattooed, chain-smoking and unshaven cabbies shouldn't be listening to bubble-gum 1980s pop music. They don't go together.

Chainsaw, how about some good old Molly Hatchet? Yeah, " Flirtin' With Disaster " works.

Moments later, we finally reached our destination in lovely Holly Hill.

Thanks to the nice lady at the towing company, she took the VISA instead of cash (she had to because I had no cash), and I drove my Ford out of jail. Still angry at the absent scouts who had my car towed and bewildered from my taxi cab experience, I turned on the radio.

What is this, Rick Astley weekend? Now it's " Together Forever " blaring through my speakers.

I changed the station.

After a pit stop at an ATM (I needed two $20s and a round of wedge), I zipped over to Mainland High School and paid $20 to park about a 20-minute walk to the race track. Attendants assured me the car would not be towed, and I made it to the race with an hour to spare.

And I haven't heard a Rick Astley song since.

Joe McAdory is editorial page editor for the Opelika-Auburn News. Contact him at 334-737-2549, jmcadory@oanow.com or twitter.com/joemcadory.

___ (c)2012 the Opelika-Auburn News (Opelika, Ala.) Visit the Opelika-Auburn News (Opelika, Ala.) at www.oanow.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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