It's true! I ran into Butch's new sports car yesterday---not a great way to start a Saturday. I was just telling everyone on our ski trip that the only fender benders I"ve had have been related to backing up (well, okay, not counting the time I ran into our house as a teenager---that was a smoking related accident). I finally have figured it out. It's because I'm so short!!! I really can't see out the back. I was trying to figure out how it happened yesterday and that's the conclusion that I came to. His little car is just not easily visible. So, you ask, why didn't I stop when my "back up" alarm sounded? Well, I did. I checked all the mirrors and rear window and decided that the sensor was sensing Steph's car (which shouldn't have been here anyway). So, I continued backing up slowly, ignoring the sensor as I had Steph's car in clear view. Then it happened---a little bump. My heart sank. I got out to assess the damage and felt pretty good that it wasn't too bad. That relief was quickly dissolved when I realized whose car we were dealing with. Here's how the conversation went in my head with the angel on my right shoulder and the devil on my left:
A: "Maybe he won't notice".
D. "Are you kidding me! He can detect the slightest scratch a half mile away. You're in for it"!
A. "Well, he's still sleeping, so I won't wake him just to give him bad news".
D. "Doesn't matter when you tell him, you're in for it"!
A. "Should I call him at 8, 9 or 10? What if he doesn't notice? Shoud I confess"?
D. "You're definitely in for it"!
A. "Okay, what will he do? He'll just get really quiet---as if he isn't quiet enough already. It'll definitely ruin his weekend. He loves his cars. They are little mini homes---he really can sustain life in there---food, water, blankets. Hmmm, maybe I need to move in there for a couple days".
D. "You're DEAD"!
It pretty much went down like the D said it would! Picture it: the dent is the size of a softball---no terrible crease, scratches or missing paint. Maybe the body shop can just "bump" it back out. Yeah right!
Lessons learned:
1. Sit up real tall in the seat when backing up.
2. Don't park behind me.
Did anyone pick up on the play on words in the title? "Backing up is hard to do". I took it from the 1970's Neil Sedaka song "Breaking up is hard to do".
ReplyDelete