Be sure to check out the common thread questions at the end. Would love to hear from you!
Narrator Keith Morrison: During the last episode, we beheld the idyllic picture of a family on vacation: a father, a mother, and their doting children. We joined them as they prepared for a laid-back day of fishing, one that would turn out to go not nearly as planned. When the family’s only son, Sam, came into the home with some new fishing swag, no one could have predicted what would happen next.
Keith: Your son has just bought a new lure and a new net. How did that make you feel?
Me: I was ok with it, Keith. I mean, I was pretty certain it was going to end up in the bottom of the channel, but, hey that’s fishing, am I right?
Keith: Is it?
Me: I don’t know.
Keith: So what happened next?
Me: Well, I was in the kitchen, probably eating something salty, and I hear my son complaining that his lure was stuck.
Keith: Stuck? How so? In what?
Me: That’s what I wanted to know! It could have been ANYTHING.
Keith: Hmmm.
Me:
Keith: So, you went to the back porch, and what did you see?
Me: I saw my son, and he was crouched over the net.
Keith: His new net?
Me: Yeah, his new net, the one he had just bought. And it was obvious he was trying to get the lure out of the net.
Keith: The lure was stuck, wasn't it?
Me: Yeah. It was. Really stuck.
Keith: Really stuck indeed. How did that make you feel?
Me: At first frustrated, but then a little excited.
Keith: How so?
Me: I knew this was something fishing-related I wouldn’t mess up.
Keith: Hmm. So you felt like you had a chance to do something good for your son, to save the day.
Me: I did, Keith. I’m pretty good at untangling things.
Keith: Who isn’t?
Me:
Keith: So what happened next?
Me: Well, I grab my son’s multi-purpose knife, snipping a bit here with tiny scissors, pulling a bit there with tiny pliers, carefully working the sharp, barbed, stubborn lure free from the exceptionally strong net, until, about 10 minutes later, with a final, firm yank, the lure comes free!
Narrator Keith: Free? Well, yes, but not for long. It seemed that boastful admission that he was “good at untangling things” would come back to haunt Phil.
Keith: So that was that. The hero dad, saving the day! Huzzah!
Me: Well, not exactly?
Keith: No?
Me: No, I had yanked so hard that the lure flew out of the net and directly into my finger.
Keith: Ouch! That must have hurt.
Me: It did Keith. It did.
Keith: And had to be a little shameful, too, no?
Me: I guess you could say that. I felt like an idiot.
Keith: I think most people would call that “shame”.
Me: Hmm.
Keith: Did you pull it out?
Me: I tried, but it was pretty firmly in there. Pretty deep.
Narrator Keith: Deep indeed. In fact, several painful attempts at pulling the lure free of the finger led nowhere, and it was soon clear that Phil would need medical intervention. And so, with a heart full of resignation and a finger full of fishing lure, Phil headed to the nearest Immediate Care Center.
Keith: So, you drove yourself to the Immediate Care. Why?
Me: Well, I didn’t want my wife to miss part of her vacation just because I had firmly lodged a fishing lure in my hand. It felt silly.
Keith: Sillier than getting a lure stuck in your hand in the first place?
Me: Yeah, I guess so.
Keith: Fascinating.
Me:
Keith: So you were driving yourself, with one hand presumably, and you get to the “Immediate Care”. What did you find?
Me: It wasn’t an Immediate Care Center at all. It was a car dealership.
Narrator Keith: Little did Phil know, but the Immediate Care Center had relocated some months earlier, and no one had notified Google of the change. Ah, such is life. So, with a lure dangling from his hand, Phil contemplates his next move.
Keith: So, I guess you Googled to find the next closest Immediate Care Center?
Me: Not at first. I circled the dealership a few times, thinking that maybe I missed it. I thought about asking the sales guys standing around the lot if they knew where the Immediate Care place was. And I briefly considered going inside the dealership to see if it was inside.
Keith: You thought a medical facility might be inside a car dealership?
Me: I mean, this was Florida. Crazier things have happened there.
Keith: I have to say, most people probably would have assumed the address was wrong and moved on. How many times did you circle the lot?
Me: Maybe three.
Keith: I have to imagine your finger was hurting by this point.
Me: I had lost some feeling in it, which was nice. It was more annoying than anything, especially as I had to use both hands to make the sharp turns around the dealership, and a few times had to block the sun with my had to be able to look for the building. The lure actually helped a bit there.
Keith: When did you finally decide to pursue other options?
Me: Once I was sure there was no Immediate Care center inside of the dealership, I pulled over and, with my lure-free hand, looked up the next closest Immediate Care.
Ketih: And did you find one?
Me: I did.
Keith: And did they help you?
Me: No Keith, they did not.
Coming up on Fishing for Trouble:
“Of course, I saw he had a lure in his hand. But how was I to know that's why he was there?! For all I knew, that was some kind of jewelry. We see all kinds of things here.”
The Common Thread:
Have you ever ruined a perfectly nice day with a “bonehead” mistake?
What’s something in your own life that seems like it should be rewarding but always seems to disappoint?
Have you ever had a fishing hook lodged in your body?
Such an interesting read. Looking forward to Part 3.
So there will be a part 3? I'm hooked however many "Parts" it requires for this story to fully unfold. I love the narration, and in particular, your blank responses here and there. It is Dateline at its best! Of course, I do have many stories of "bonehead" mistakes that ruined something, but I wouldn't begin to try to share them in my boring, monotone writing style. The stage is all yours!