Sunday, March 25, 2007

Backing up is hard to do...

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.

1 comment:

  1. 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

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