Book 2 — Story 7

After their refrigerator is off all weekend, a family has to clean it out and get new food.

Switching a Switch

Megan Moot walked into the house and opened the refrigerator door. She made a face and choked out, “What is that bad smell?” She quickly shut the door. Megan was 16 years old. The Moots had just arrived home from a weekend at Grandma’s house. Megan was in a growth spurt. She was always hungry. But that smell stopped her. She didn’t want to eat anything in that fridge!

Her mother walked over and opened the door again. She said, “That does smell bad!” She looked at the controls. “Oh, no!” she said. “It has been turned off. Who did that?”

Megan’s 15-year-old sister Shelley said, “I did. You told me to, Mom.”

Mrs. Moot looked wide-eyed at Shelley. “I told you to? What are you talking about? I would never tell you to shut the fridge off.”

“Yes, you did,” Shelley said. “I opened the door looking for something to eat. I said there was nothing good in there. You said to ‘switch it off.’ So, I did. Don’t you remember? It was before we left to go to Grandma’s for the weekend.”

“I meant to switch off your complaining, not the fridge,” Mrs. Moot yelled. “Did you stop to think? Did what you were doing make sense? Did it cross your mind that maybe that was not what I meant?”

Shelley started to cry. She said, “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to mess up.”

Mrs. Moot hugged Shelley and said, “I know you didn’t mean to let the food spoil. But, please do think before you act. If something doesn’t make sense, ask questions.”

Mrs. Moot and the girls began to clean out the fridge. They threw all the food away and scrubbed the shelves and walls. Then they sat down and made a shopping list.

On the way to the store, Mrs. Moot said, “At least we have a nice, clean fridge! But, don’t shut it off every day, Shelley. In fact, we don’t even want to do this every year.” They all started laughing. While they were laughing, they heard a siren. Mrs. Moot took her foot off the gas and looked in the mirror. “Oh, no,” she said. “I think I was speeding.”

She pulled over. Police Officer Morgan came to her window. Police Officer Morgan was a young, female officer. She had become a cop two years ago, right after college. She said, “Ma’am, you were going 40 in a 30. May I see your license, please?” Mrs. Moot pulled it out and gave it to her.

Then the cop said, “Ma’am would you please get out of the car?”

Mrs. Moot got out and stood beside the car. She said, “I’m sorry, Officer. We just found out our fridge was off all weekend. Everything in it spoiled. We are on our way to buy some fresh food. I guess I was just a little rattled. See, here’s our shopping list.” The cop glanced at the list and then at Mrs. Moot’s license.

“Happy birthday, Mrs. Moot,” the cop said. “Do you realize that your license expires tomorrow?”

Mrs. Moot said, “Oh, my gosh! I forgot. I will renew it.”

The cop said, “Good idea.” She took the license and said, “You can get back in the car. I’ll be right back. I need to look you up on my computer.” After a few minutes, she came back to Mrs. Moot’s window. She said, “I can see that you have a very good driving record. And, I think anyone might get rattled by a fridge full of spoiled food. I’m going to let you off with a warning ticket.”

Mrs. Moot said, “Thank you.” She sat quietly while the cop wrote the warning ticket. Then, Mrs. Moot signed it.

The cop gave Mrs. Moot a copy and said, “Slow, down, Ma’am. We want you and other drivers to be safe.”

“I’ll do my best,” Mrs. Moot said.

Officer Morgan said, “Good luck with that fridge.” Then she got in her car and drove away.

Megan said, “That was scary, Mom!”

Mrs. Moot said, “It is always a little scary when a police officer stops you. But, I was very lucky to get off with a warning. It doesn’t usually work out that well. Keep that in mind when you are driving. Dealing with a speeding ticket costs money and takes time.” Mrs. Moot carefully drove on to the grocery store.

At the grocery store, Mrs. Moot showed Megan and Shelley a line of people. She told them to get in the line and register for a garage sale. She gave them $20 to pay for it. As she walked away, Mrs. Moot said, “Find me when you are done. And, don’t switch to the other line. We don’t need $20 worth of coloring books!”