---by PENELOPE IRIS HOLTZ
On Saturday, December 30, 1995, I went to the cleaners to pick up my dress that I was planning to wear for New Year's Eve. I wanted to be there before 5:00 p.m., before they closed. When I reached the door, which was locked, I saw a sign stating; NEW HOURS CLOSING TIME ON SATURDAYS-4 p.m. Argh! I was devastated as my boyfriend had tickets to
the Val Air New Year's Eve Gala-the last one. The dress is a long, black velvet beauty that I had them alter and clean.
After fuming and being on the verge of tears, I called my boyfriend, Tom, whom, I soon realized didn't exactly see this for the "serious disaster" that it was. He said things like, "Maybe that should have been your first priority of the day" and "Well, we'll bring a glass of champagne out to the car where you'll be sitting in your sweat pants (chuckle, chuckle)". When he got the picture on my mood, he did say, "I'll buy you another one tomorrow, don't worry." That's not what I wanted--after already picturing myself in my long, black, velvet number.
I thought, well, I can sit here and cry or I can try to work it out in some way. So,..I called the police. I figured that the police just might have a record of business owners, in case of a fire or a break-in(yeah, that thought crossed my mind). I called the Urbandale Police Dept. Officer Karen Robinson answered the phone. I explained my dilemma, following with "I realize this is not exactly an emergency but it is a mini-disaster to me." Officer Robinson listened and asked me the name of the business. I told her it was the Madison Avenue Cleaners off Merle Hay Road and she informed me that was in the Des Moines Police jurisdiction. She took my name and number, in case she came up with any ideas for me, she said. I called the Des Moines Police Dept., who took my name and number and said they would call me if they had any information for me. By the time, I'm starting to feel a bit silly, but, not enough to give up.
About 20 minutes later the phone rang and it was Officer Robinson asking me if I had any luck with the DSM Police Dept. She offered to call them again for me. She did and called back to say that they had no name listed in their computer for that business owner. I thought, well I've tried, to no avail, and thanked Officer Robinson for taking her time to try and help me in my seemingly frivolous pursuit of the black, velvet dress. She said, "Wait a minute, I have one more idea." She suggested a call to the Power and Light Company and offered to call them for me.
Less than 10 minutes later the phone rang and a male voice said, "This is Mark from Madison Avenue Cleaners. The police just called me. I understand we have your New Year's Eve dress." The bottom line results of that conversation was that Mark insisted on delivering the dress to my home the next morning-and, he did.
I called Officer Karen back immediately and thanked her, profusely, and the dress looked just as I pictured it would and made me feel so glamorous. When I walked out the door that night on my boyfriend, Tom's arm, he had a long white limousine waiting with roses and champagne. I had the perfect dress for it. It was a glorious, fun evening at the Val Air Ballroom, watching all the elegantly dressed dancers promenading around the floor. We danced right through "Auld Lang Syne."
Thank you, Officer Karen Robinson at the Urbandale Police Dept. I'm sure you had alot more important things to do and you went the extra mile for a total stranger. I'll never forget that! Thank you, Mark Lathrop from the Madison Avenue Cleaners, who could have been relaxing with a cup of coffee and newspaper, on a Sunday morning, but, instead took care of a customer with "kid gloves." That was the first time I'd ever been to your cleaners, but, you now have a steady customer.
I moved here from California, where there are so many people that you're just a number, in most cases, and, I cannot imagine such a thing happening there. I'm not crazy about the weather in Iowa, but, I love the people here. And, I met Tom.
Penelope
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