following my evening of trivia with chris (#9) i wasn't at all tired and decided to go hang out with my friend milkshake. at this point it's maybe 12:45 am and i'm driving north on route one. out of nowhere there is this car just SITTING in the middle of the road PERPENDICULAR TO THE MEDIAN. this guy, as far as i could tell, was parked across two lanes of traffic, nose to the metal divider. it was extremely disorienting and the visual can be described only as surreal. i began to slow down as soon as it registered that i was in fact seeing this parked-looking vehicle.
i slammed on my brakes as soon as i realized what was happening but there was no place to aim that wouldn't have resulted in some sort of mess. the impact ultimately was the front end of my car and the driver's side front of his car. thankfully no one was hurt.
my airbags deployed and i sat in shock.
it was twenty degrees outside. the roads appeared dry but the shoulder where i stood waiting was slush.
for the first time in quite a while i felt like i was a nuisance to the men with which i was dealing. usually i can hold my own but at one in the morning on a road not so close to my house i felt helpless and stupid and helpless some more. i gave the other driver all of my insurance information and he walked away saying he'd give me his. he came back and handed me a folded up piece of paper. it wasn't until later that i realize it was my information he'd given back to me instead of his own. it was do dumb and trusting of me not to check that paper. i'm not saying he did it intentionally, it was cold, we were all shocked. but jeez, talk about inconvenient.
i called my (amazing) friend who promptly got himself over there to help a girl.
the experience was very unpleasant.
my car is terribly totaled.
my body is very sore.
i feel lost.
no car.
i know my car is often a joke among my friends but no one can deny that it has taken us all over the place.
because it's old i worry that i won't get very much for it. it's one of those cases where it's worth SO MUCH MORE to me than will ever be determined by some insurance adjuster.
there's also concern that because i don't think anyone is at fault, the other driver's company won't cover the costs as it seems they should.
all of this and i really really was planning to go to new york for the talent show tomorrow. i'm thrilled with the responses from my most loved and admired people, "how are you going to get there?" they've been asking.
not "are you still going?" like i'd entertained for a split second.
and i'm going to get there.
bus. train. rental car. who cares.
i've got to go on a date and i've got to see the love of my life: ira glass.
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