The Tow Truck Driver and the Princess

I could use some feedback on the following incident:

An acquaintance and I decided to drive in my car to Telluride today just to walk around and see the sights. Its a pretty drive and T-ride has lots of exotic shops just to window shop at. My acquaintance is always claiming that she has no money, but she has a jewelry selection that would make Tiffany's green with envy and she is 1/4 owner of a highly profitable restaurant here in town.

We arrive at our destination without incident and stop in the parking lot of the local grocery store because "Princess" has to use the bathroom. I go in with her just to gaze at all the elegant gourmet items this place features while I'm waiting for her to do her thing so we can move on.

We get back to the car and Ms. Genius, aka yours truely has locked the keys in the car and can't find the spare I usually keep under the bumper.

But all is not lost. One of the car windows was rolled down just enough to get a wire coat hanger through and hit the release knob inside. Princess is starting to get hysterical, and I assure her that all will be well, I've performed this maneuver many times since I'm forever locking my keys in my car. I didn't want to call a locksmith because when all you have left to live on for the month is $100.00, a locksmith is an outrageous luxury, and besides, we didn't need him.

I go in search of a wire coat hanger, find one after several minutes of asking around, place my purse on the trunk of the car, and start fishing for the knob. Meanwhile, Princess is making a public scene in the parking lot, crying and cursing and claiming we will be stuck there forever. Unknown to me, she called the tow truck when I was getting the wire hanger. Unknown to both of us, some concerned citizen called the police, telling them that Princess was having a hysterical breakdown at the local grocery store and maybe someone should check on her.

Just as I almost had the unlock button in my grasp with the coat hanger, who should arrive but BOTH the police and the tow truck driver. The police asked me to prove that it was my car that I was tryiny to open, and I went to get my purse which had fallen off the trunk and under the car where I couldn't see it, so naturally I assumed it was stolen. The officer gave me a very skeptical look, and ask if my papers were in the car, I said "yes."

Looking all official, the policeman said, "Well, I can't let you break into this car. You can have it towed somewhere or you can pay the tow truck driver here to open the car and we'll check your name against the paperwork in the car.

Princess opened her wallet and gave the tow truck driver $65.00 for taking about 30 seconds to open the car with a slim jim, I got out my paper work, the police ran a computer check on the car, me, my licence and my third cousin twice removed, and told us we could go on our way.

As I began to back out of the parking place, sun of a gun! My purse was revealed to have been laying under the car all the time!

Princess jumped out like a flash and grabbed my purse, and extracted $60.00 - all I had on me, and said "This is what YOU owe me for the tow truck." Short of taking a swing at Princess in the parking lot, there was no way I was going to wrest that $60.00 out of her little hand, and I'd been through enough with the police and gawking on-lookers, anyway.

I was so furious with Princess, I could barely see straight. I still had $2 or $3 in my jacket pocket, and I told Princess, "I need to be alone for about half an hour. I'm going to go drink a cup of coffee, and if you're not back in half an hour, I'm leaving without you.

I was morosely into my third cup of coffee, getting a nice caffeine buzz, when Princess trotted back into the coffee shop only 5 minutes late with her arms full of packages.

I said to her, "We need to decide who pays how much of the tow driver's bill. "Oh," she responded happily, I gave him all the money I had, and then I bought these things with the other $60" -MY sixty - "and I'm broke. Can I bum a cigarette?"

I should have left Princess all by her lonesome in Telluride, but it was starting to snow and it was after dark, so I just snarled to her, "Get in the car!" How I managed to drive her home without pushing her out the door at the first steep mountain cliff is beyond me, but somehow I restrained myself.

I was too angry tonight, but tomorrow, Princess and I are going to have a nice little chat. I think Princess should pay me back the entire $60.00 because she was the one who went into hysterics and called the tow truck when there was no need, and especially because she stole my money and just went shopping with it. Princess thinks she only owes me forty.

What do those of you who are not in a white hot rage think is fair in this situation?