The 2012 Holiday Party Report Part 2 + Scumbag Car and Good Guy Tweeps

Yesterday was one of those days — the highly memorable kind that you could totally call “a rollercoaster” if it had been anything other than stellar for the first 80 percent of it… Or if I had spent it at Cedar Point or Wonderland or something.

It all started out dreamily with some DIRELY needed hair TLC at Sparks in Liberty Village (full review of that adventure coming soon, but long story short: Sparks Salon = beauty heaven and Liquid Keratin = gorgeous hair in a bottle.)

Then, I spent some quality time with the boys…

Did some last minute Christmas shopping…

Hit the gym, computed a little, packed my car and hit the road to head home for Christmas.

Vinyl Tap was on the radio, my coffee cup was full, and I was only 4 hours away from SLEEPING IN MY SWEET BED IN CHATHAM!

Or so I thought.

Scumbag car strrrrrikes again! WHY MAN? WHY? Just as I’m getting on the 427 you decide to overheat? Why are you so hot? IT’S FREEZING OUTSIDE!

I called my dad who advised me not to drive four hours West with the gauge at full H and the check engine light on. My boyfriend, his brother, and everyone else I talked to agreed, and since I couldn’t get one person to give my bright idea at the very least a “meh, you’ll be okay,” I did the next best thing.

I Tweeted.

Anybody know a 24/hr auto repair shop that’s open 24 hours? Right now?

— Lauren O’Neil (@laurenonizzle) December 23, 2012

It was a long shot. I’d already pulled over and started Googling shops in the area on my iPhone to see what time they’d be open the next day, fully resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to make my family Christmas today.

And then this popped up on my screen:

@laurenonizzle Apparently Bento’s on Dundas 416-533-2500

— Tania (@tania) December 23, 2012

“Huh,” I thought. “Worth a try.”

30 minutes later, this:

IT WAS A FESTIVUS MIRACLE!

Not only were the guys at Bento’s able to take me in right away, they got me back on the road within an hour — All because Tania took the time to reply to my tweet.

She didn’t have to do that. She could have let the tweet pass by and clicked over to something more entertaining, but she took the time to find and send me that number instead.

Scumbag car overheats on the highway; Good guy Twitter followers help me locate a 24 hr mechanic within minutes.

— Lauren O’Neil (@laurenonizzle) December 23, 2012

That little gesture made a world of difference to me — the difference between making it home in time for my extended family Christmas in Windsor and having to catch a train home the next evening with four huge bags of gifts in tow.

Thank you, Tania. You saved my Christmas with your simple act of kindness, and that does not deserve to go unrecognized or un-paid-forwarded.

So here; I donated a mango tree to a school in Africa through Plan Canada in your name (which I wrote as @tania since I don’t know your last name and wanted this to be a surprise.)