Page 16 - Italian-American Herald - November 2024

16 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | NOVEMBER2024 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD IT’S ALL GOOD
The Phillies may have lost this series, but daddy-daughter time was a clear winner
By Charlie Sacchetti
My daughter Rosie and I
thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Pittsburgh, from July 18-22
to see our Phillies play the Pirates,
even though the team did drop two of the three games. PNC park is a beautiful venue and any baseball fan would appreciate the majestic view of the Pittsburgh skyline as you look to right-center field. As exciting
as the games were to watch, there was one day, away from the park, that provided a little more action than I would have liked or expected.
On Saturday, July 20, as we started out the day to do some shopping, the “low
key battery” sign flashed on my car screen. Before we left our New Jersey homes, and not wanting to be stranded 300 miles away, I gave Rosie my spare key to my 2021 Honda CRV to hold just in case I lost mine. So, now I had a bit of a dilemma. I didn’t want to have only one working key, since that would defeat the purpose of bringing the extra one but I didn’t know which one was low on juice. I determined that it was, in fact, Rosie’s key. The next stop was to the Dollar Tree store to buy a pack of No. 2032 batteries so I could insert the new battery and discard the depleted one. Now, I must mention at this point that I am not only mechanically challenged but also quite impatient. Still, I have reluctantly performed this relatively simple task several times before so I saw no reason not to attempt it.
The two-pack cost me over $5. This added to the annoyance factor, that was already building up during this early morning. You see, I paid $1.25 for the same pack at my local Dollar Tree just about a month ago. But, what the heck, I’m not going to let a simple thing like getting ripped off
at the dollar store ruin my day! When we arrived back at the hotel, I went to work. I was able to get the key case open but couldn’t get the old battery out. No matter how I tried, it wouldn’t move. I usually use a little
PNC Park in Pittsburgh is home of the Pirates, a perennial Phillies rival. | ADOBE STOCK
screwdriver to pop out the battery but I had no such tool around. I tried to slide my house key under it to pry it out, but only succeeded in knocking the car key to the floor and having all of the little button icons pop out and land all over the place. After finding them and gathering all of the little icons
up off the floor, I attempted to put them
back into their little holes to no avail. My small allotment of patience was exhausted. I realized it was time to call in the experts.
I placed a call to local dealer, Dean Honda, and spoke with a nice young man named Gio, who worked in the parts department. After explaining my plight and incompetence he mercifully told me to come in and he would do what he could to put my key back together again. We drove the 15 miles to
the dealership and saw Gio and his buddy Jay. Gio put the key back together in about one minute while using none of the swear words that were sure to come from me had
I not stopped my further attempts to fix
the key. Jay noticed that my other key was missing one of the icons (a result of one of my earlier attempts) so he took it from me and put in the missing piece from his bag of salvaged key parts. I suppose Jay realized that
this guy from Jersey needed some help/pity when it came to doing anything the least bit mechanical. Gio reluctantly had to charge me $10 for the new battery which I was actually happy to pay under the circumstances. Their friendly demeanor and quick service to two travelers in need was greatly appreciated. Kudos to Dean Honda!
So, I suppose this could be a pretty happy ending. But the saga isn’t quite over. As we headed back to the hotel, an oncoming truck kicked up something and we heard a “pop” at the top of my windshield. When
we arrived, I checked out the windshield but saw no apparent chip on the glass or even the roof. Perhaps it wasn’t a stone after all? After a week at home there was still no sign of damage. A day later, as I was driving down the road I noticed a line, about 6 inches long from the top of my windshield straight down from 12 to 6!
As if on cue I heard, in my mind, that jingle we have all come to know and love:
“Safelite repair, Safelite replace.”
I’d like to think that a bit of wisdom sometimes comes with age. With that in mind:
• Getting ripped off at the Dollar store – $5
• Kicking in the deductible for a new windshield – $500
• Returning safe and sound from a great five-day baseball trip with your daughter – priceless!
Charlie Sacchetti is the author of three books,“It’s All Good: Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change;” “Knowing He’s There: True Stories of God’s Subtle Yet Unmistakable Touch,” and his newest, “Savoring the Moments: True Stories of Happiness, Sadness and Everything in Between.” He was raised in Philadelphia and lives in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. Contact him atworthwhilewords21@ gmail.com.
I was able to get the key case open but couldn’t get the old battery out. No matter how I tried, it wouldn’t move.
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