STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ok, so i took a salsa lesson last night with Lilykind at "El Floridita."  it was so much fun, i totally recommend it (they have a website).  the only thing i don't recommend is pulling forward in their tandem parking spots.  this place is in a strip mall w/ ur typical strip mall parking lot & when we arrived there was a guy in a red vest (who i assumed to be the valet) who we asked where to park.  he told us to just pull all the way up & i actually preferred this cuz i didn't want to give the guy my keys and i assumed that would have been required if i parked behind someone.  boy how assumptions have their way of making an ass out of u & me!!  so we get out of the place an hour later (the class was from 8-9) & this black mercedes 320 was parked behind me.  we looked around for the valet guy to move it & all we found was a homeless guy washing people's cars so we asked him what to do (since he seemed to work there in some way) & he told us to tell the manager of EF.  so we went back in & told the manager & he made an announcement but no one in there was the owner of the car.  then he suggested that we go store to store (there are several bars & restaurants in this strip mall) and ask people if the car is theirs.  Lilykind and i split up & asked at every open business & no one claimed the car!  by this point it was 9:30 and my bed time is fast approaching.  so then one of the merchants suggests we call a tow truck.  i was leary of this idea because i didn't want to get beat up if the owner of the car came back in the middle of the towing so we explored a couple more options.  see, apparently most people are "regulars" & know better than to park all the way in in the tandem spots so there was no one parked to the left of my car for at least 5 or 6 spaces.  we figured if we could get one of those cars to move (the ones parked on the outer part of the tandem spots), then i could pull an Austin Powers & maneuver my way out & leave thru the opening.  looking at our options tho of either calling a tow truck or having to go to every open busines again & ask about 6 cars we opted for the tow truck.  there were signs clearly posted that the parking lot was for customers only & if u left the premises u would be towed so i figured we were in the clear since obviously the guy had left the premises because we checked the entire premises.  we called the tow truck and waited.  after a while a lady came out & left in her car which was one of the outer tandem cars that would allow me to maneuver out.  with Lilykind as my guide i was able to turn around and pull out of the now open parking space.  no sooner had this happened that the tow truck arrived.  by now it was no longer necessary to tow the mercedes, but it was definitely in violation of the building's parking rules so it could be towed anyways.  the tow guys were really nice & not mad that we dragged them out there & then ended up solving our own problem, but i felt bad sending them home.  all of the merchants agreed the car should be towed but for some strange reason they refused to sign the authorization.  i don't know if they didn't want to get beat up (like me) or what, but they were clearly within their rights so i didn't see the problem.  finally it was after 10 so i just signed for it as the person who's car was blocked (even tho this was no longer the case).  the guys immediately began lifting the car onto their truck & the alarm went off so we jumped in our car & bolted.  it was a crazy crazy adventure, and one Lilykind and are won't soon forget!!  You really missed out esquiress!!

oh & i just wanted to say that Lilykind is so sweet & fun!  we had a great time, even when we were stuck in the parking lot for an hour!