Last summer in the Safeway parking lot when my car would not start, just after stocking up on all the weekly supplies on my list including fudgsicles and other perishables, I called Triple A in a frustrated temper tantrum. The guy asked me what I thought was wrong with my car. HUH?

As if….I mean really….how in the world would I….I said I had no idea. But I told him that I could repeat the sound it made when I turned the key. He said great. Go ahead lady. I made a sort of sucking, jerking, spitting, Tourette’s Syndrome “GUCK ah GUCK ah GUCK ah Gumph” like a cat trying to cough up a hair ball. He immediately diagnosed the problem as my fuel pump. He added the compliment, “Nice job lady! Now we got somethin’ to go on!”

We proceeded to load my car onto the back of his rescue vehicle and I jumped into the front seat of the tow truck to ride with him on our way to the fix-it place ( these are all highly technical terms ). The driver and I had a lovely talk on the way and the day wasn’t nearly as horrendous as I had imagined.

Everybody needs a little something to go on….just a little bit of a clue helps so much. It is tiresome and sweaty, flying blind all the time. I have found that you can usually make a sound that will perfectly describe your current emotion and will be of help to people in your life who remain mostly clueless. Sounds get peoples’ attention. Try out a sound sometime. They define situations when words are inadequate. I suggest you develop an entire array of sound special FX (a tip of the hat to my son-in-law who makes a living in FX) and you will soon have a vocabulary of them from which to choose when you need one fast.  WHOOOSH. I am outta here.