Adventures With Pay For Parking

I was not going to blog about this, but since Dave mentioned in his blog that he would leave this up to me to tell, I feel obligated.
Yesterday, Dave took the PCAT in Berkeley (read Dave's blog to fill in the blanks). I dropped him off at 8:30am (he mentioned I had to kill 4 hours of time. That was incorrect, it was 5 hours) and went back to our hotel to partake of the free continental breakfast. I then took Lara back to our room and fed her, let her play a little, and then she went down for a nap. Lara had woke up every 2 hours during the night, so I was tired; therefore I joined her for the nap. Lara fell asleep around 10am, I fell asleep about 15-20 minutes later and woke up at 11:25am. Checkout was at noon, so I got everything ready while Lara still slept (she woke up about 10 minutes after I did). Dave had forgot to pack my change of shirts (all I had was a polo that I had worn the day before), so I looked up where the local Old Navy was located (it was in Emeryville) and headed over. To my surprise, you had to pay to park at the mall. I had no cash, in fact I had only a credit card, but the machine that you pay at said that it took credit cards, so I parked and proceeded to Old Navy. I thought it was great because I got the closest parking spot to the elevator and the Old Navy was right by the entrance to the mall by my elevator. Perfect! I did my shopping and the went to the machine to pay. I insert my credit card and a message pops up stating it cannot take my card. What!?! I try again, same message. This cannot be happening! I walk into a store and ask if I can purchase something with my credit card and then get $2 cash back because the machine is not taking my card. I'm told they can't do that, but the store next door can. I walk over and ask, the cashier says he does not know, so he tries calling his manager. Manager does not answer. He tells me he won't do it because he could not get a hold of his manager and tells me I should walk to a grocery store down the street and see if they can. Hello! I'm from out of town, I have a baby in my arms and a shopping bag. I leave the store trying to hold back tears because I don't know what to do. I sit down in a chair outside with Lara on my lap and cry. I'm stuck at a mall over 3 hours away from home, I have no cash, no ATM card, and no way to get a hold of my husband. I remember that we had brought our check book. I walk back to the car and find it. While waiting at the elevator, another person tries to pay by credit card and has the same problem. So, I go back to the first store I had asked, they do not accept checks. I see Harry and Davids, they have to take checks and can let me write it for more and get cash back. I go over and ask. The clerk tells me that they do not have the capability to do that. That was the straw that broke the camels back! I sat on the bench in front of the store and just cried, trying to not be hysterical. The clerk sees me and asks if I need the money for parking. I tell her yes. She asks if I need $2, I say yes. She says she had that in her purse and then goes to her purse and hands me the money. I was so grateful, but I could not stop crying. Hormones, they'll get you every time. She offers me some coffee, I tell her that I do not drink coffee. She offers me iced tea, and I tell her that I do not drink that either, but thank you. I head out, pay at the machine, get Lara in the car, and head to UC Berkeley to pick up Dave. I was still fragile when Dave finished and came out to the car. I told him that and told him he better not do anything to me. He asks me what happened. I tell him, but still could not do it without crying. I must have had a lot of things pent up, because it sure did seem like I cried a whole lot more than I should have. I'm glad everything worked out and that I received help when I needed it. Heavenly Father really does bless you when you REALLY need it.