Acca Dacca Sunday, P5

We've Got To Ride On

Turns out, folks were spot on when it came to the warning we received about traffic trying to leave Gillette Stadium. After the AC/DC concert, it took us about 45 minutes just to get back to our car.

Though, to be honest, it was a pretty entertaining walk. Somebody in the pack of people we were with started singing, “You Shook Me All Night Long” and pretty soon there we were, a crowd of hundreds shouting off key lyrics as we stutter-stepped out to the jammed parking lots.

By the time we got back to our car, exit lines spread out for acres and acres. We weren’t going anywhere for a long time. It was 11:30pm.

So, we crawled into the back, opened up our cooler, got out the Nintendo and settled in for a post-game tail gate. Plenty of other cars around us did the same. I figured Little Bean had a decent 30-40 minutes of post-concert adrenaline to use up and neither of us had to be anywhere tomorrow.

We devoured jello sticks, polished off the oranges and cukes and even found a couple cookies buried in the bottom. By 12:30am, the kid was drooping, traffic was moving and the time had come.

We packed everything away, buckled in, I plugged in my phone to the charger and turned the key.

Nothing.

Deep breath. It’s fine. This can’t be happening. Turn. Nothing.

Dead battery. Nearly 1am in a stadium parking lot. It had begun to rain.

I looked down at my phone. 2% battery power. One of my mobile chargers had a little power left on it, so I plugged that in.

“Ok, well, looks like were stuck for a bit,” I said. “Car’s battery is dead.”

“Oh my God!” she said. “We have to sleep here?”

She went to 60 pretty fast there! “No, no, we’re fine, we just need to get a jump.” I hoped that was all. “Come on, let’s take a walk.”

The lot was emptying out fast now, so we walked over toward one of the parking attendants, and as we did, I noticed a couple police officers on bikes. I waved one down and explained our situation.

He laughed. “No problem, Gillette has a Triple A guy stationed for just this reason. Tons of dead batteries. I’ll send one over to your space. Probably 15-20 minutes.”

I could see Little Bean’s shoulders relax. Good lesson to be learned about not panicking in less than ideal circumstances.

“See,” I said as we walked back to our car, nearly alone now in the vast lot, “we’re fine!”

At that moment, the cop came riding up to us. “Sorry,” he said. “Triple A guy went home. You got someone to call?”

“Sure,” I said, and he rode off. I looked down at my phone. One percent.

“Now what do we do?” she asked.

“That!” I said pointing. Three rows over, there were two pick up trucks, facing each other. I could see wires connecting the two engines. “Come on!”

Sure enough. Two trucks of AC/DC fans, middle aged dudes, dads.

They saw us walking up and a couple came over.

“Battery dead?” the one guy asked. He was tall, wearing a battle vest. Big white beard. We nodded and Little Bean pointed over toward our car.

“We got you,” the other one said. “We’ll drive over when we’re done with this one.”

“See,” I said as we walked back, “AC/DC fans are cool.”

Uma climbed back in and when the truck made it over, one of the guys came over to chat as the other guy hooked up his jumper cables.

“I really appreciate this,” I said.

He shrugged. “Fifth car we’re jumping tonight. We could have made a side gig out of it.”

Almost on cue, Little Bean came running out with some left-over jello sticks. “Want some?” she asked.

“Really, take them all,” I said. The guys all laughed and each grabbed a handful.

“How old is she,” one asked. “Her first show?”

“Ten,” I said. “First AC/DC, but she’s been to lots of shows.”

“That’s cool, man,” he said. “Mine was 14 before he started going. I didn’t see AC/DC till I was in my twenties.”

The car started on the first key turn, thank God. “Yes!” Uma shouted.

We’d lost about an hour in this whole episode, so not bad. The rain really started to come down now. The boys drove off honking, and we sat there in an empty, massive Gillette parking lot for a few minutes letting the car warm up.

It was 2 a.m.

“Daddy,” Uma said as I pulled away and headed to the exit, “it’s already so late! I should probably just stay up all night!”

I smiled. She was snoring before we left the parking lot. I took a deep breath and pointed our car toward home.

This selfie was taken by Uma. One of my favorites!

Acca Dacca Sunday: Thanks for joining us there past five Sundays for our little weekly story about our incredible concert day. You can read Part One here Acca Dacca Sunday Part One, Part Two here Acca Dacca Sunday Part Two, Part Three here Acca Dacca Sunday Part Three and Part Four here Acca Dacca Sunday Part Four. And as always, please feel free to share with any AC/DC, music or culture fans! Onward! We’re thrilled to have you on this ride!