There’s nothing quite like meeting someone new. . . by accident.
Now before you get all excited and happy for me, this isn’t a story of my meeting “someone special.”
(Although I’m sure the person I met is special in her own way.)
No, this happened yesterday afternoon as I was traveling to my haircut appointment.
I was heading east, stopped at a traffic light in the left-turn lane.
When the green arrow appeared, our procession began moving, but the first car decided to stop suddenly.
Perhaps to turn into a restaurant parking lot, I don’t really know.
Nor do I care.
The man driving the utility truck in front of me jammed on his brakes, forcing me to stomp on mine.
Fortunately, I was far enough behind and traveling slow enough to do so successfully.
Unfortunately, the girl driving the car behind me was Right. On. My. Rear. Bumper.
Meaning she couldn’t stop in time.
So the front of her car smashed into the back of mine.
I stopped my car, jumped out cursing, and approached her.
She motioned for us to move out of the way into a nearby parking lot.
Where we exchanged drivers license and insurance information, as well as phone numbers.
Both of us were shaken up.
Accidents have a way of doing that.
But looking at her drivers license and realizing she was just a year younger than My Favorite Domer, my heart softened a bit.
I reined in my temper and became a mom again.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes. Are you?”
I nodded.
“I’m so sorry,” she told me. “I just couldn’t stop.”
“I know,” I sympathized. “I probably couldn’t have either.”
Neither of us had a passenger with us. Neither of us was injured.
In fact, her car didn’t look “bruised” at all.
So we parted ways, if not besties, at least on friendly terms.
The way I’d hope someone would be with Domer, if he should ever find himself in this poor girl’s position.
Which I hope he never does!
Tell me, have you accidentally met any interesting people lately??
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
“There’s nothing quite like meeting someone new. . . by accident.”
Debbie I loved the way you started this post! As a matter of fact, I loved this post period, and how you tied it into ‘accidentally meeting’ of someone. Brilliant!
Boy, when I got to the part where you told of the car accident, I got very concerned; thinking, OMG…Debbie got hurt in some way!!!” And thank heavens you (or the young lady) didn’t – whew! I’ve been in accidents such as this, and it’s as you said, you get very shaken up. In fact, in my case, I was the one who hit the person in front of me when they stopped. And luckily, there wasn’t too much damage to our cars, nor did either of us get hurt.But still, it’s a very scary situation and your emotions go everywhere.
“But looking at her drivers license and realizing she was just a year younger than My Favorite Domer, my heart softened a bit.
I reined in my temper and became a mom again.”
Wow…how about that! And bless you!
(((((((( You ))))))))
Isn’t it something how we can suddenly shift gears, when something hits HOME for us?
I’m sure she was grateful for the ‘TLC Mom Care’ you gave her, because I bet she was scared being that young and most probably being her first car accident.
“Tell me, have you accidentally met any interesting people lately??”
Ha! No, not that way, but I did meet up with an estranged family member who I haven’t seen in over 25 years. They ‘accidentally’ found my blog online during the summer and ended up contacting me. We got together in July and it was wonderful!
FAB post, Debbie!
X
Ron, you’re a dear to be concerned over my safety — thank you! I’m glad I piqued your interest in my little story. Thankfully, everything is going to work out just fine (at least, I’m hoping so).
Your blog connected you to an estranged family member you hadn’t seen in 25 years?? How awesome is that! Isn’t it funny how we put ourselves out there and find others to share in our joys and sorrows? What a cool story!
Have a beautiful rest-of-the-week!
As a mom of young people who drive, thank you, Debbie for being so compassionate with the young girl who crashed into you. I would hope that if my kids were ever in that situation, that the other party would be gentle with them.
I was once the one responsible for a fender bender. The woman whose car I hit was very kind and patient with me. No one wants to be in an accident. No one ever thinks that they are distracted to the point of being careless, but most of us find ourselves there at some point.
You’re so right, Terri. And with all the distractions available now — fast food, MP3s, cell phones — it’s no wonder we bump into others! My late dad used to warn us kids to be careful, saying that it’s expensive to have an accident. He was referring to the monetary cost, of course, but also the time factor (dealing with insurance companies and rental cars) and the emotional and physical factors (hospitals, etc.). We’re just fortunate that cars can be fixed — and we didn’t have to be!
Sounds like you handled the situation with kindness and patience, and she handled the situation responsibly. And now you get to be “the really nice lady” she includes in her accident story. The real tragedy beyond having your car tied up for a few days is that your interesting stranger wasn’t tall, dark, rich, charming, and handsome —-add in a tad of arrogance to get your irish up, and a phone call for coffee later to make it up to you….just sayin’
As a matter of fact, Katybeth, this girl *was* tall, dark, and very cute, though I’m not attracted to females in that way, ha!
If one has to have an accident, a simple fender-bender is the way to go. No hospitals, no need for rental cars, just a bit of aggravation in losing my car for the couple of days it’s going to take to repair it.
I suspect it’s going to make BOTH of us more careful in the future, at least for a time!
Oh dear. First of all, I can’t picture you jumping out cursing and hand shaking. You are about the kindest person I know. So, secondly, I see your heart melting at the young woman as more “you.” Glad no one was hurt.
I bumped into a man in front of me once about 10 years ago. And by “bumped” I mean I hit him so hard my air bags deployed. I was in the middle of my awful divorce and was driving to pick up my son from basketball practice at the high school and was such an emotional wreck I probably should have had my license taken away (since my sanity had been taken for a while) and the man whom I hit and I pulled over and he started to cry, which made me mad because he was going on and on about all his problems and I thought, listen buddy, I don’t think you can top mine and I’d apologized and well, never mind, don’t get me going.
I just know that you were wise to keep a distance from the car in front of you. We never know the emotional or physical condition of the drivers around us on the road. And these days, you wonder how many of them are texting. I wonder if the young woman who hit you was distracted.
Barb, I’m so glad your air bags deployed and you were kept safe. I remember how emotional mid-divorce can be, and I’ve often thought they should simply take away drivers licenses from folks during that time!
Thank you for your kind words, but yes, one little curse did escape my mouth before I was able to get a grip. It’s only the grace of God that allowed me to treat this young girl the way I’d want somebody treating me or my son, if we were the ones at fault.
It did cross my mind to wonder if she’d been texting, too. I wasn’t on my phone at all, thankfully, or I’d have probably run into the truck in front of me. I shudder to think how much worse this thing could’ve been.
In another situation, I assume you would have become friends. I am quite sure of it. Xx Glad you are alright, Debbie.
Thank you, Kim. I’m glad we’re BOTH okay. The insurance agent told me that, if you have to have an accident, one like this is the best kind to have.
I don’t like meeting people by accident, as you did! I’m glad you weren’t injured and that you were able to find compassion for the driver, even though it’s hard to in the heat of the moment.
everal years ago, an older woman hit me, taking out the back quarter panel of my car while I headed to work. I kept my cool, until the woman accused me of causing the accident because she had the right of way to merge. (Never mind that she was nearly behind me!) Thankfully, I had someone in the car with me who pulled me aside so I didn’t unleash my frustrations. Well, the police saw it my way, issuing her the citation, and her insurance company repaired my car. No one was injured in that accident either…but I was seriously late to work!
Um, “everal” should’ve been “Several”. Sorry…I’m blogging past my bedtime, but this is a sign I need to shut down for the night 🙂
Don’t worry, Janna — we all do that! Fingers just don’t work as fast as brains, ha!
Accidents cause such upheaval, don’t they? And no matter how tiny the dent, it’s amazing how fast the costs to repair it rise. You’re lucky to have had a witness (we didn’t) and that it didn’t result in injuries. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Debbie, so glad that you and your new acquaintance weren’t seriously injured. I admire your ability to see the accident from the perspective of the young woman and instead of blaming her, offering empathy.
I don’t know where that empathy came from, Pat — my first inclination was to start yelling, ha! I sure hate seeing my (relatively) new car with a dent in its bumper. But you’re right — cars can be repaired. Injury of person is much harder to handle. Thanks for stopping in!
Funny you should ask. I just got my lovely new car back from the body shop, where it’s been for three weeks. I was going back to work after lunch one day, and a neighbor – a young guy who had coffee in one hand a his bluetooth in his ear, backed full-blast out of his parking space just as I was passing by. He got my passenger side rear door, the wheel cover and the rear fender.
Needless to say, I was mad. But, when he got out of his car with his insurance papers in his hand, it obviously was going to be ok. We called the police, and they said as long as no one was hurt and everyone was sharing info, there was no need for them to come out.
Bless his heart – I saw him a couple of days later after I’d talked to the insurance people, and he said they’d been good with him, too. As he put it, they helped calm him down.
I must say, it was easier than I thought it would be. He had Geico, and they didn’t bat an eye. I got my rental car for the whole time, and even though there needed to be some supplemental payments, they came through. The best part was that i had a little ding in my front door, too, so I just paid the extra money and had that fixed at the same time. I think it probably was a dent from a grocery cart or something.
Anyway, that’s my story. As the old saying goes, it was the best kind of accident to have. I’ve had the other kind, and they’re no fun!
I’ve had the other kind, too, and you’re right — they *aren’t* any fun. I had one in Texas, as a matter of fact, that practically totaled my Blazer and gave me whiplash, for which I was on some heavy-duty meds (’til I realized I was sleeping my life away and took myself off them!).
Glad you’ve got your car back in practically-perfect condition. Glad you and your neighbor weren’t hurt. Bet he was embarrassed, though! It’s bad enough hitting a stranger, but who really wants their neighbors knowing they’re drinking coffee and listening to their Bluetooth while behind the wheel, ha!!
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