A switch up

At the start of the week, an alert came up in my car. I needed to take it in to the dealer for service. At the moment, I was scared and upset, but I called the dealer the minute they opened the next day to set up an appointment. The next opening wasn't for another two days. This meant I needed to find another way to get around for the majority of the week.

I'm too young to get a rental car, and my place of work and my home don't align to any light rail or bus route that I know of, so this meant catching rides with my roommate or friends or, if all else fails, having to get a Lyft every time I needed to go somewhere.

That adds up — both in favors asked and dollars spent. This week gave me a reality check and reminded me of how privileged, how fortunate I am.

I recently returned to visiting Harrisonburg, Virginia on Saturday. Less than 48 hours later, this all went down. At first, I was thankful that my car problems started in my driveway and not in the form of a breakdown on the way home from work. But in hindsight, I'm really thankful it didn't happen when I was on last week's road trip — I was in my state let alone my city.

Since I was just coming back from a few days away, I had a lot on the agenda for this week errands-wise. That all got tossed out the window. If leaving the house wasn't essential, it wasn't happening.

The only times I've left the house this week have been to go to and from work, and the only time I actually drove was to drop my car off to get serviced. Had I really needed to, I'm sure I could've learned the bus system to get around the general area around me. As of writing this, I haven't had to do that yet. But having to make those choices made me reassess what errands were actually important.

I also realized how fortunate I am to usually have a working car.

Public transportation is better for the environment and makes getting around easier for others regarding of socioeconomic status. That being said, I haven't had to imagine life without a car since moving to Charlotte. Harrisonburg is small enough that it felt easier, more manageable to hop on a bus or even walk from place to place. If I needed to go without my car, it wasn't that stressful to figure out. This week made me realize I could stand to learn a thing or two about alternative ways to get around my city.

More than anything, this week made me realize how much we take things for granted. This is only temporary for me, but so many people question how they'll get to work, the grocery store or anywhere else on a daily basis. I feel a little humbled by the reminder that a change of plans is always one twist away. I hope I continue to be thankful for what I have once I'm back behind the wheel.