As the flower delivery man, my greatest fear is for the delivery car to break down on a day when Power Flowers is providing flowers for a wedding. On a day of paramount importance for the bride, groom, and many others in the wedding party, the mere thought of no flowers at the wedding ceremony and reception due to an auto malfunction sends shivers down my spine. On a regular basis, I take the car in for servicing to minimize the possibility of running into car problems on the big day. The trusty wagon had not failed me in the past on a wedding day and as is often the case, one falls into a false sense of security that nothing could possibly go wrong.
Power Flowers was scheduled to provide bouquets, centerpieces, corsages, boutonnieres, and other floral pieces on the Saturday of a long weekend. I was anticipating a smooth delivery and with many drivers out of town, I was also expecting the roads to be relatively quiet. Unfortunately, there was some menacing clouds in the sky and as we prepared to collect the wedding arrangements from Power Flowers for delivery to the church, the clouds were getting darker and darker. Then it started to rain heavily with large puddles forming on the road. As I was exiting from the expressway in downtown Toronto, I drove through one of the puddles. I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence but after wading through the puddle, I felt resistance trying to turn the steering wheel. Lights appeared on my dashboard, but my focus was trying to steer the car to Power Flowers. I somehow managed to arrive and park outside the store, but after turning off the ignition, the car would not start again. I felt a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. Fortunately, we arranged for a helper to assist us with the wedding and she had a large minivan. Also, Power Flowers schedules enough time prior to the start of the wedding for delivery and setup. In fact, we are often the first to appear at the ceremony location and arrive well ahead of the wedding singers, musicians, and other. However, despite having another vehicle at our disposal, we needed another car to transport the rest of the flowers and equipment. After calling the tow truck to wheel my car to the dealership, I had to locate a rental car agency in downtown Toronto to get a backup vehicle.
I was roaming around town in the rain for an open Hertz, Avis, Alamo, or other rent-a-car agency. Since it was a long weekend, I discovered most of the rental vehicles had been claimed and so my first few attempts to get a car on-the-fly were unsuccessful. I then traipsed to an agency that could offer me a car in about two or three hours if it was returned on time. I wandered to a nearby Avis. They had a Jeep available immediately and I snapped it up given the lack of rentals in the downtown core. I eventually got the keys after sacrificing my credit card and headed back to Power Flowers to return on schedule. By the time I returned to Power Flowers, the skies had cleared up. I thought I had seen the end of the odd weather on this day. I collected the remaining flowers and equipment and headed to the church with just enough time to have everything ready for the bride and groom.
However, on my way there, another wave of clouds loomed on the horizon. I figured the relatively new rental car would be able to navigate through any further inclement weather. As I approached the clouds, hail started to pound the rental car. I wondered if the insurance I paid for at the rental agency covered damage due to hail but fortunately, the hail was not the size of tennis or golf balls. However, the storm was severe and inside the Jeep, the windows started to fog up. I managed to find the control in the Jeep to clear the foggy windows and crawled all the way to the church. In this case, our early start and having access to the Jeep saved the day (Thanks, Avis!) Fortunately, the rest of the day went smoothly.
