Like Tetris, Only With Air Conditioners

Question: How smart do you have to be to get a 10,500 BTU and a 6,000 BTU air conditioner into a Mazda 3?

Answer: Smarter than TDW and I, apparently.

The Tall Drink of Water pushed and pulled while I wrongly advised and made suggestions, all to no avail. The 10,500 BTU unit was not - I repeat, was not - going to fit into the car. Not the trunk, not the back, not the front.

We sat them on the ground and stared at them. Hmm.

Then an older woman, probably in her 50s, leaned her head out of the passenger side of the Ford truck that was parked across from us. Waving her cigarette she said very sweetly, "You might try taking it out of the box. I drive a Chrysler and whenever I buy anything, like a desk chair or whatever, I always have to take it out of the box. Then I just fold the box up."

We looked at her, then at each other and were like, 'Why didn't we think of that?'

TDW told her that was a genius idea and I pulled my pocket knife out of my purse (it always comes in handy) and commenced to cutting the plastic strips on the box.

Smiling as she watched us unpack the AC she said, "I didn't want to get in your business but that's always what I have to do."

After we finally wedged them both in we thanked her so profusely you'd have thought she squeezed them in them for us.

As we drove out of the parking lot of the Florence Lowe's I asked TDW how it is that two reasonably smart, college education people can't figure out how to get a couple of air conditioners into a car.

"She's older and wiser. She drives a small Chrysler, she's more experienced," he said.

My solution, on the other hand, is that one of us needs a truck. You know, for all the haulin' we do.