Now I know how it feels to be a parent and get ‘the’ phone call in the middle of the night.

Ring Ring

Me – Hello (I’m saying this pretty pissed off as it’s 11:40 on Friday night & I really wanted to sleep)
C – I just got in a car accident.

Talk about waking up real quick.

Chris ordered a new car about 6 weeks ago. His lease was up & he decided to order the same exact car (Tahoe). I think it’s weird that he ordered the exact same car but if that is what he likes . . . . He turns in the old car on Friday morning. He gets a loner, an Impala, you know the kind, it’s like a Police car. He’s supposed to pick up the new Tahoe on Monday.

It’s Friday night, he’s on his way home from work. It was a beautiful night (I mowed the grass but probably shouldn’t have since I’m still a bit dizzy) They were totally swamped at the Bellevue store so Chris, the good boss he is, went in to help them out.

It’s now 11:30pm Chris is about 1 mile from the house. A gal was coming up the hill, ran a red light & he kind of T-boned her. Thank god he drives like an old man. Everyone is fine. She’s 20, was coming home from work, (She works at Chipotle in which Chris tried to offer her a job to work for him . . . always working that boy is) He calls me & asks me to come & get him. He doesn’t know if he can drive the car home.

I would have to assume it always sounds worse than it is. His front bumper was pretty much ripped off, the front left panel/light was busted, she had a big ‘ole dent in her right hand side smack in between both doors (she was driving a big old Ford Explorer). She spun around a couple of times; the spun a bit to the left, all in all, everything and everyone was ok. She admitted that is was her fault, there were even people from Gig Harbor that stayed as witnesses. In the end everyone ended up driving their cars home (very carefully)

So, he calls the dealership Saturday morning, we put bungee cords on the bumper to secure it, & he ends up getting his new car. Yay. I guess. I’m serious; it is the same exact car without the warm windshield wipers. I asked him if they just really cleaned it up good & squirted new car smell in it. IT IS THE SAME CAR!!!!

Now, it’s Monday morning. I’m at work, it might be 8:15. He calls me.

Ring Ring
Me – Hello (I have caller ID at work, he’s on his cell phone)
C – I got in an accident.

My brain is saying really? Huh? Now that is a mean joke to play on me when I don’t even have a drip of coffee in me yet!

He’s serious. He was on I-90 & got rear ended. But, since he drives this big honkin truck of an automobile, he didn’t even know it. He thought he drove over a tire in the road. He said he saw the tire & that is what he thought he drove over. (It ended up being his spare tire from under the truck) He also listens to the radio so loud I’m sure he didn’t even hear anything. So, he keeps driving, he said he just had a weird feeling so he was pulling off the next exit to see if anything was wrong with the car & then some crazy lady is following him. Somehow he pulls into BCC, he talks to the lady & finds out that someone did ram him & they totaled their car. The cops didn’t give him any tickets. He’s actually going to go the to Dr now just to make sure everything is ok with him. He’s really shaken up. (rightfully so). I guess the other guy is OK. A gal I work with lives by me & saw the accident on her way into work .She said the car was totaled & the driver was out & about walking around. (So he’s OK also thank god)

It’s just crazy . . . He hasn’t had an accident for 20+ years and neither of these were his fault. Is it karma, or plain old bad luck? We’ll never know but I’m sure he’s got a different mindset right now about driving now. I only hope the next phone call I get from him goes like this:

Ring Ring
Me – Hello
C – What’s for dinner?