Last week my wife calls me in a panic and says she just got rear ended at a stop light. She was OK but the rear bumper wasn’t. Luckily she was by herself and the kids weren’t along. 
Indeed this is life and these sort of things happen, but what really bites is the car is brand spanking new. It’s a 2010 Sienna, complete with a non-recalled gas pedal, new car smell and less than 2500 miles. It had not even had it’s first oil change yet. Sigh…
So I drove the car this morning to the auto body shop where they will be installing a new bumper today. When asked if I wanted a rental car I proudly proclaimed “No, I’m taking the bus!” To which the 19 year old receptionist looked at me strangely and said they would shuttle me to work if I would like. I made the game time call that a shuttle ride wasn’t against my rules given the circumstances.
I seized the opportunity to exercise a different rule and I engage the driver in conversation. I proceeded to learn that his wife was pregnant with their first, he is pretty freaked out and that he really doesn’t like his career choice. Over the course of the 10 minute ride he got a lot off his chest and his mood went from rather grumpy about shuttling me to more optimistic about his life situation. It was fun, way more fun than driving a rental car.
The van should be ready tomorrow evening. In the meantime I don’t have a choice about how I’m getting around. So in turn, neither does my daughter. We are going to bus to preschool tomorrow. I broke the news to her at dinner last night and she was as excited as Christmas morn. Oh how the world must look through 4 year old eyes.
Would this be Carma? I remember being 4 and taking the El into downtown Chicago with my dad--VERY excitiing!!
ReplyDeleteAnd as a child, I remember taking the bus to downtown Cincinnati with my mom to go shopping. It was a very big deal. There were no such things as shopping malls. A bus ride into the big city for lunch and shopping was a treat.
ReplyDeleteStanley's big treat was to take a bus to downtown Brooklyn for shopping, and then they would eat at Chock Full O'Nuts where his mom always got date nut bread with cream cheese and coffee. Then they would stop at the hole-in-the-wall stocking store, where they would punch his mom's buy 10, get one free card; finally rounding out the excursion with a movie at a big theater.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the car! Within about six weeks I clipped an illegally parked car, had to pay $$$ for new brake shoes, and was rear-ended. After experimenting with the bus for a month (and realizing I only used the car to go to Ikea), I sold it to my brother for the remainder of the loan.
ReplyDeleteFast forward ten years, and I'm a car owner again. It's fun to be able to visit small towns and go out in the hills. Before, whenever I went to the trouble of renting a car I just drove straight to Vancouver.
This is a great short-term blog. Keep posting.
Sorry to hear what happened to your car! Thankfully, no one was hurt. It might take a while, but the car will come back. It's best to enjoy the little joys in life, like your kid getting excited about the bus.
ReplyDeleteDon't be too hard on yourself. Glad she and the kids pulled through. You don't have to shoulder all the fallout from that damage, though. Think of what has happened again and see if there's some other things that played into the equation there, so that it can be prevented.
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ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. You wouldn't care for it so much if you had car insurance. I say that from experience. There is a car insurance in Seekong MA that is covering these damages 100%.
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