The Locksmith

I feel like owning a car simply means that you will have problems with it. Not necessarily big ones, just little ones that need to be addressed. It can get a little frustrating for me as a new car owner and adult to learn that. Adult problems are weird because they are oddly convoluted and simple at the same time. For example, I've been struggling with the car locks on my door. I recently got a new key made so that my brother and I can more easily share the car. After we made the key, we learned that the car lock is jammed and doesn't work. On my car there is only one lock, and it's on the drivers side door. So, when it's jammed, there is no other way to get into the car except by using the car remote. Well, that was in the process of breaking, so not only are the keys useless for getting in, I was loosing the only way to get in. This last Thursday, it broke. And my car was locked. I had to call the locksmith to get in my car, and now have to take the lock in to get fixed, but until then I can't lock the car. It's all very convoluted and frustrating, especially since it is all very expensive and hard to know the right decision to make. When I was getting the car unlocked I had to make a decision on what to do and I felt paralyzed not knowing what the right decision was. The locksmith was very patient and kind. There was a moment where I felt connected by our shared misfortune and so I wrote a poem about the experience.

To the Locksmith

You could tell I was a desperate college student.
You could tell that I didn't have much money to give.
You offered to do it for less than usual.
I couldn't accept that.
I saw that you needed it too.
After you opened my car,
You still cared about helping.
As you tried to fix the jammed lock
You dropped your phone
The screen shattered
And I wanted to sit on the ground
And cry for our shared humanity.