Grasshopper No. 5 has not been blogging lately. Something about being back in "two shakes of a lamb's tail". What the hell does that mean. That posting has been up on her web-site for a month.
According to No. 5, she and her best friend (Shawn) were dining at a Minneapolis restaurant (I don't remember the name, but it is in a "seedy" part of town). The food is fabulous however. As No. 5 and Shawn came out of the restaurant, they were less than a minute away from his car. Your mom and I got to ride in Shawn's car back in August when we visited Minneapolis. It was a four door black A4 Audi sedan with stick shift and a silky ride. As No. 5 and Shawn approached the car, they heard a crunching sound. What the hell could that be?
As they got closer to the car, they began to realize that someone (totally inebriated) had plowed into the rear of that shiny Audi. Not only did he wrinkle the back of the Audi, he hit with such force that he pushed the car into a parked car in front of it. The net result was a car that folded like an accordion. I guess the frame is twisted and from the description, "total loss" would not surprise me. The good news is that no one was in the car at the time of the accident. There is a feeling of disbelief that comes over a person as you see your special possession come under attack. All the emotions evolve. Disbelief, shock, rationalization, anger and then resolve that "this too shall pass".
I remember when the lady in the large Ford Expedition backed into my new Saab four years ago. She decided to leave the "line" at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. She never saw my sleek, low-slung, sporty new Saab wagon behind her. It was sort of like slow motion. I saw her backing up and my mind considered all the options in a nano second. The problem is that I couldn't get the message from my brain to the rest of my body. I wasn't sure what to press for my horn (I did press something but it didn't work). Then my mind sent the message to "back up" to give the lady room. I reached for the gear shift to change it to reverse but I remember checking to see if there was a car behind me. It turns out there was no car but by the time all this got processed, that high riding Expedition with a hugh trailer hitch was tickling my front grill. $5,000 worth of tickling! I went through the same emotions as Shawn. Disbelief, shock, rationalization, anger and then resolve that this too shall pass.
I don't know what Shawn will end up doing but the worst scenerio would be that the Audi will be repaired. It is the worst scenerio because Shawn will always know the car was in an accident and it "will never be right". The best scenerio is that the insurance company of the drunk has good insurance and the Audi A4 gets replaced with something newer, sporty, and fun to drive.
Cars are just things. They can be replaced. Somehow though, guys more than gals treasure a finely crafted machine that they become "one with". There is a despair that goes with damage to your machine. Have heart! There is always tomorrow.
Love,
Dad