Stupidest Mistake Ever

The year was around 1976 or 1977. I was dating Terri and working at Association Services Limited, a property management company. My role was maintenance of clubhouses and common area lighting for several Home Owner Associations. I relied on tools to do my job.

The job required that I drive to many locations each day. My current car was a 1969 candy apple red GTO convertible. It was a great car, a real classic muscle car, but also a gas guzzler. Even though gas was cheap then, a lot of miles in a guzzler started me thinking of a more economical car. I soon found an old powder blue Toyota Corolla station wagon with well over 100k miles. It was on its last legs. But it was cheap to operate and with the rear seats folded down had plenty of room for what ever I might need to haul to the job site. I traded the GTO in for the Corolla, (close, but not my stupidest mistake).

One summer evening, Terri and I headed out to the drive-in movies. We chose the Corolla over her ugly green Ford Pinto. I backed into a parking spot so the rear hatchback would face the movie screen. We opened the hatchback and enjoyed nice space to either sit in the back, or lay back over the folded down rear seats. The only impediment to our comfort was my tool box. I set the tool box down under the rear bumper.

Midnight or after, the double feature was over so we pulled the hatch shut and climbed in the front seat to head home. I drove off leaving the tool box in the drive-in parking lot. It was 15-20 minutes later that I remembered them and returned in search of my livelihood. They were no where to be found. Several hundred dollars in tools were lost.

Since I could not afford to replace them, before work on Monday I bought or borrowed a couple screwdrivers, a crescent wrench and a hammer. That would be my suite of tools for weeks. Over the next birthday and Christmas, I was given tools from relatives that knew of my need. But for 6 months, I performed my handyman role with a limited set of tools.

I did however learn a great deal from the experience. I learned how to improvise when faced with jobs that could not be performed with screwdrivers, a single wrench and an hammer. I also learned to protect the tools of your livelihood. Today those tools are my laptop computer and smart phone. I do not know how I would function with out either, but would probably improvise a solution.