Operation "punk Ryan"

For those near and dear to me - thank you for putting up with me for the last month. Delivering Ryan's new car to him on Sunday was awesome. We had come up with so many different scenarios on how we could surprise him to the point that Brett was calling me and Todd "Lucy and Ethel".

Here's the deal - Ryan drives an old 1987 Volvo that is literally not worthy of a demolitian derby. Our family friends, Todd and Brett - so excited about Ryan graduating in December have decided to get him a car. They found the perfect car for him - a 2003 Volkswagen 2003 GTI.

Ryan doesn't know he is getting a car. He isn't expecting it at all especially with the economy the way it is. To keep him from being suspicious of anything, he can't know that Todd and Brett are going to Lubbock with me, and the hardest part of all, I can't risk tell any of his friends.

So I tell Ryan that I'm visiting college friends in Lubbock on 11/8. Todd, Brett and I are driving up for the day only - no hotel rooms available due to Tech Football being so gynormous right now. First we were going on Saturday, but Ryan has to judge a debate out of town all day, so we decide to go to Lubbock on Sunday.

Worried about Ryan driving the Volvo, I asked him to let me know when he made it to the debate. He was supposed to be there at 8am, and at 8:45 - I hadn't heard from him. I "text'd" him. I get a message back that his car had broken down before leaving Lubbock. OMG!! OMG!! (but thank gah he wasn't on the road) Major panic attack. I call him. He had called a tow truck, and had already been waiting a hour. So, after a couple of phone calls back and forth, I convince him to NOT take the car to a repair shop - to have it towed to his apt, and that I will bring a mechanic friend of Jeff (my friend I'm supposed to be visiting in Lubbock on Saturday) on Sunday to look at it. He is skeptical. At this point, he thinks I'm in Lubbock on Saturday, dissing him and now pushing him off a day to get his car repaired. By Sunday, he was so stressed and ancy. When we got there, he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. He sees Todd and Brett, and he's not really able to compute what they are doing there. We have him show Todd and Brett what's wrong with the car - it starts without holding the connection. He can tell that Todd and Brett aren't really interested. Todd says here "Happy Graduation" and gives Ryan the key to his new car parked next to his old car. Ryan is bewildered, shocked. He thinks Todd is loaning him a car - the he realizes what is happening, and he says it, " Did I just get punk'd? Where's Ashton Krusher?" and literally is the happiest guy in the whole U S of A. True Story!!!