A Minor Inconvenience

Last Thursday night at 6:30 was the retirement party for a co-worker. She had been working at our clinic almost as long as I have and I miss her already. I wanted to go her party, but it had been a crazy day at work, and even on a good day, I just want to go home and be anti-social after dealing with people for eight or nine hours.

I had one quick errand to run, so figured that if I could get out of work by ten to six, I could make that stop and arrive at the party fashionably early for a change. All went as planned. By 6:05 I was heading back through town on my way to the restaurant. As I drove through a busy intersection, movement caught my left eye. I turned to see another car barreling towards me. For a split second a hundred thoughts ran through my head. Should I swerve? Should I brake? What can I do to avoid this? And then there was impact.

Nothing I could have done. It just happened. In the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, if I hadn’t ran up to the store, if I had stayed at work longer, if, if, if. It doesn’t matter how many scenarios a person runs through their head. Look up the definition of “accident”. It is something that just happens that you have no control over.

So I have been inconvenienced for the week. And I didn’t make it to the party.

How crazy is it that I can think of more good things to say than bad. No one got hurt. I have full coverage on my car, but it wasn’t my fault so the other guy’s insurance should pick up the bill, including the deductible. The body shop guy in town is a family friend. Honestly, I know he’s not going to give us a deal or finish my car before all the other vehicles in his garage, but I trust him and to me that is worth more than gold.

I was going to go Christmas shopping the next day, but I decided I would just have to stay home and clean house instead. Until a friend, who also had the day off, heard of my plight. She wanted to go shopping too, but didn’t want to go by herself. Not only did she do the driving, I melted into the heated seats of her truck. The ride there and back relaxed me so much that I didn’t care about much of anything after a while.

I bought everything on my list and had coupons and got good deals. At every checkout, I wanted to ask the clerk if they rang everything up because I couldn’t believe how low the bill was.

I wasn’t able to get a loaner car from the garage and my insurance policy doesn’t cover a rental car. Yes, since the other guy was at fault (in my opinion, though I have yet to receive a copy of the police report), his insurance should pay for a rental car, but how long is that going to take to go through, while in the meantime, I have to pay for the rental up front?

I feel like George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life”. You don’t realize who your friends are until you need a ride back and forth to work for a week. One of our neighbors took me to church Saturday night, another one brought me home from work tonight. A co-worker brought me home last night. I’ve had lots of other offers. I feel so blessed and so loved. Who knew? 

 

 Think my cute little car will look this good again?