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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Miss Daisy Needs a Driver

Puff and I go back and forth all the time on this one particular issue. We both have our sides on the group we choose to prefer to support, hang out with, etc. The debate? The elderly versus children. Puff grew up hanging out with the old ladies at church, while I worked in child care for years. The truth of the matter behind my insane preference for children?
 
Old people creep me out.
 
Yup... I flat out don't like them. (Unless they're my grandmothers.)
 
And now I have another reason why I don't like them...
 
 
::sigh:: Because all I wanted two weeks before traveling for Christmas was for my car to be jacked up!
 
Let's recap...
 
Monday afternoon, it was 70+ degrees here in SC, and I had worked all weekend, so I needed a break. I got in my car, headed out to my fave local burger joint, and got a to-go order. I drove to a nice neighborhood not far from the office, found a spot on the street by a park, and ate. The windows were down. The radio was off. The houses around me were gorgeous. It was a refreshing and relaxing life moment.
 
When I left, I realized the street I was on was one block off where I would need to be to get into the parking garage. So I turned down a side street I had never been on before and thankfully, there was an on-ramp (for lack of a better description) onto the busy street I needed. I got to the top of the hill and the mini-van in front of me stopped. Why? Because the light was red and the traffic was backed up to us. So I stopped behind them. On the one-car-wide street.
 
I never even saw her coming.
 
Little old Geraldine in her 1990s silver Buick somehow thought she could squeeze past me into traffic. Ya know, like I was just sitting there for no reason. I pulled off to the side, put on my hazards, and got out to check the damage. I waited patiently as she backed up to pull over as well, backing over the curb she had to run over in the first place. Yup... she had run up on the curb on one side while scratching up my car on the other. ::bangs head on steering wheel::
 
Her side mirror was dangling by a thread and I didn't inspect her car any farther. Nope, I was too worried about my broken tail-light and the nice scratches she had left that were about 2 feet long. And not just surface scratches either.
 
 
 
I did my best to be calm and nice. She stated she hadn't had an accident in over 25 years. I got all her insurance information and gave her my contact information and went on ahead to work.
 
I know it's just a car. I was assured by her insurance agent (whom I called about 5 minutes after it happened) that they would cover all the damages and a rental car for the days it's in the shop. I'm still waiting on final word from claims on where and when to take it to get fixed, but at least the ball is rolling.
 
But we leave for The Fort for Christmas in a few short weeks. And we need our SUV to haul back all the goodies Bimmer will rack up while we're there. It's just a huge inconvenience and frustration.
 
So yeah... the elderly? I am a firm advocate for taking away licenses once you reach a certain age or, at the very least, having them re-test every year or two. There's a reason children aren't allowed behind the wheel. And to me, a lot of old folks act worse than children. Just not as cute.

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