A Day In The Journey

The worst sound in the world: phone calls at three a.m. It's so hard to believe it's been over a year. It still hits me every so often. If anyone ever calls me in the middle of the night for any reason other than dire emergency, they won't forget the consequences.

The second worst sound in the world (and the reason for this post): one car colliding with another. If that wasn't on my list of sounds that should be banned from radio commercials, it should be. It's a terrible, terrible sound. The first time I realized how awful that sound is I was not driving the car. My grandmother was. Some guy ran a stop sign and smashed into us. This time I was driving. In fact, I was a mere block from the office yesterday morning when it happened. I glanced over at a dump truck parked on the side of the road. I looked back to see a small minivan had stopped at the intersection about 100 feet from where I was currently cruising at 40mph. I hit the brakes. No. I didn't just hit the brakes. --small pause: here's what I should have done--tap the brakes and pull rapidly into the parking lot to my right.-- Here's what I did: slam on the brakes. Here's the problem: I don't have ABS. Here's what happened: the brakes locked and thanks to the fact that it had been raining all morning, there was no friction to stop the skidding car. --second small pause: here's what I should have done now--pull the e-brake.-- In the following 1.5 seconds of panic (there is nothing like the panic of knowing you cannot control your vehicle and you will hit the vehicle stopped in front of you), I did not have the time or the presence of mind to grab the e-brake. Thus, I plowed right into the back of a stopped red Mitsubishi minivan.

Cons: I felt so badly for hitting that lady. It was my fault for not paying enough attention and not reacting as well as I could have--as well as I have in other, more unavoidable, near-collision situations.
Cons: It was raining the whole time.
Cons: I couldn't stop crying.
Cons: My car is very broken.
Cons: See above.
Cons: My neck hurts a lot. I hope the lady I hit feels better than I do.
Cons: The hood of my car was crunched up to the front wheel wells.
Cons: The front of engine was angled back into itself in a manner relative to above.
Cons: I could get sued.

Pros: The lady I hit was very nice. Had she swooped out the car and been a witch-on-wheels, it would have gotten really ugly.
Pros: Her son was equally nice, and had recently been in an accident himself.
Pros: NO ticket was written. (Thank you BR City Police)
Pros: Full collision coverage.
Pros: Only a $500.00 deductible.
Pros: Great insurance agent.
Pros: Great body shop.
Pros: The only thing that hurts is my upper back and neck. It could've been so much worse.
Pros: No one hit me from behind.
Pros: Apparently., my hood is supposed to look like that after a front-impact collision. It did what it was supposed to.
Pros: My headlights were still working.
Pros: The other lady's car just had a dented back bumper, and her radio popped out of the dash. Maybe she won't sue.
Pros: If she does sue, I know a good lawyer.

So. My baby goes to the body shop today. I suppose I'll find out soon if it's "repairable" or not. Or if the repairs will be too much to make it worth it. I want it to be "repairable." After all, this car is paid for. I like that feeling. I don't particularly want to lose it. I like my car.