by Jan Jennings

I rented a Dodge van to move three pedal harps for our annual recital weekend, and I was very pleased when I got all three safely stowed in the back at once. I used the seat belts to help keep them from rocking. One seat belt became frozen in place and would not release, making it impossible to remove one harp. I could neither slide the harp out from the back of the van (the neck was too wide to slip through the space) or from the side of the van (the base was too wide to slide through the other way).

Several of the harp dads tried to assist, including looking up solutions for frozen seat belts on Google. Nothing worked. Since it was a rental van, I didn’t want to cut the seat belt as I’m sure it would have been pricey to replace.

Fortunately, it was Saturday, so we found a Dodge dealership just a few miles from our venue. It was an interesting phone call trying to explain to the service department that we needed someone to get a harp unstuck from a seat belt. One of the harp moms accompanied me to the Dodge dealership, and when they saw our predicament they realized it wasn’t a prank call. They knew they would have to dismantle the housing from the seat belt in order to free the harp. The instrument happened to be my first harp, and I’ve had it for more than 50 years, so I didn’t want to let them take it away without me. They agreed to let me go into the service department with them.

Once in the service bay, they brought out some power tools and removed the seat belt from the ceiling of the van while I held onto the harp so it didn’t go anywhere. After it was free, I stood the harp up, and it started to draw a crowd of mechanics who wanted to see and hear it. I thought they might know “Stairway to Heaven,” and I could fake some of it while playing standing up as there was no bench. I answered their questions and then asked them to provide a bill so I could pay them. They insisted there was no charge after the impromptu “concert.” I reloaded the harp (sans seat belt), and the harp mom and I headed back to the venue. •