The Return of the Loony-Magnet
Oh dear and gentle readers... I know that I have left you for too long. I did not abandon you, oh no. I've just been extra-ordinarily busy with normalcy recently that I have had very little to write about. Fear not! The loonies have reared their ugly heads and have entered my life once more!
So, my fiance and I were driving down a stretch of highway with his son in the backseat (who, why the way, had been particularly bad earlier that day). I believe my boy may have checked the rear-view mirror, but I think he failed to look behind him. Had he done so, he would have seen the beige Ford Taurus in the blindspot on our left. Sadly, he moved to change lanes and managed to clip the Taurus' front fender, sending it into the cement barrier. He was so surprised that he didn't stop until I told him to, which was about 50 yards or so down the road. He reversed back, and we checked to see if the other driver was okay. Thankfully he was (and so were we... Dylan not even looking up from his Nintendo DS in the backseat).
The driver of the other car told us that it was his brother's car, and he was unable to find the insurance information. Whilst he was trying to get in touch with his brother, the illustrious NYPD appeared. They asked if anyone was injured. When we told them no and that we were exchanging insurance info, they said we had it well in hand and they LEFT! I guess the NYPD has no urge to fill out paperwork... however, I'm not really complaining.
Now, apparently people are hard-up for entertainment in the great ol' NYC, because the occupants of certain cars decided that it would be a good idea to shout obnoxious things at us as we are waiting for the tow truck to arrive. Most comments were simple things like "hey, what's up!" and "nice going!" There was some derrogatory profanity as well. Good lord, do people really have nothing better to do with themselves than shout at people who are probably already pissed off on the highway?? From now on, I think I'm going to carry a bucket of rocks in my car so I can chuck them at these kinds of people (if I'm ever in this situation again, which I hope is never).
The tow truck arrived to take the Taurus away (two busted tires and a little body damage... our car just has a dent and is fully functional), but the driver didn't have the money to pay for the towing. Me, being a nice person and feeling guilty about the accident, offered to pay the towing. I made sure the towing company would accept a credit card (they said yes), and we all piled into our car and drove to the body shop.
My fiance and I were bonding with the body shop guy over the Mets and Sunnyside while we waited for the car. The other driver chose to sit by himself outside.
When the truck finally came, he dropped off the car and asked who was paying. I spoke up. Now, mind you, I'm the only woman (and little to boot) in the company of 3 grown men and one small boy. I think this particular tow truck operator (who was not the one at the scene) decided that it would be worth his while to hassle me.
"It's $102."
"Okay," I reply, and I hand him my Visa.
"Don't you have cash?" he says, rather snarkily.
"No, I don't carry that much cash with me."
"What about your boss over there? Does he have cash?" nodding to my fiance.
Now, here I pause and think to myself "my 'boss'?? Excuse me??" However, I manage to keep my cool and I said, "no, he doesn't."
"This is my first job of the day. I'd really rather deal with cash," he continues. At this point, I'm very unhappy.
"Well I don't have cash, so you either take the card or you don't get paid. Those are your options."
He grumbles and takes the card from me. When the transaction is over, he hastily hands me the receipt and drives away.
I had the receipt to the body shop guy to make a copy of it, and he stops short. They charged me for 6 miles of towing when the shop is barely a mile from the scene. So Peter (they body shop guy) instantly got on the phone with the towing company and informed them that he was none-too-pleased that they were trying to rip off one of his customers. He then called my credit card company and helped me to dispute the charge. This guy is my new hero.
We then dropped the other driver off at the subway and went home.
Now I've been trying for days to get this towing issue resolved, but all they do is take my name and number and then never call me back. I've disputed the charges, so I guess if they want to get paid they are going to have to call me back.
So there are loonies on the road and loonies working in the towing industry. And here I thought I had gotten rid of my loony-magnetism.
So, my fiance and I were driving down a stretch of highway with his son in the backseat (who, why the way, had been particularly bad earlier that day). I believe my boy may have checked the rear-view mirror, but I think he failed to look behind him. Had he done so, he would have seen the beige Ford Taurus in the blindspot on our left. Sadly, he moved to change lanes and managed to clip the Taurus' front fender, sending it into the cement barrier. He was so surprised that he didn't stop until I told him to, which was about 50 yards or so down the road. He reversed back, and we checked to see if the other driver was okay. Thankfully he was (and so were we... Dylan not even looking up from his Nintendo DS in the backseat).
The driver of the other car told us that it was his brother's car, and he was unable to find the insurance information. Whilst he was trying to get in touch with his brother, the illustrious NYPD appeared. They asked if anyone was injured. When we told them no and that we were exchanging insurance info, they said we had it well in hand and they LEFT! I guess the NYPD has no urge to fill out paperwork... however, I'm not really complaining.
Now, apparently people are hard-up for entertainment in the great ol' NYC, because the occupants of certain cars decided that it would be a good idea to shout obnoxious things at us as we are waiting for the tow truck to arrive. Most comments were simple things like "hey, what's up!" and "nice going!" There was some derrogatory profanity as well. Good lord, do people really have nothing better to do with themselves than shout at people who are probably already pissed off on the highway?? From now on, I think I'm going to carry a bucket of rocks in my car so I can chuck them at these kinds of people (if I'm ever in this situation again, which I hope is never).
The tow truck arrived to take the Taurus away (two busted tires and a little body damage... our car just has a dent and is fully functional), but the driver didn't have the money to pay for the towing. Me, being a nice person and feeling guilty about the accident, offered to pay the towing. I made sure the towing company would accept a credit card (they said yes), and we all piled into our car and drove to the body shop.
My fiance and I were bonding with the body shop guy over the Mets and Sunnyside while we waited for the car. The other driver chose to sit by himself outside.
When the truck finally came, he dropped off the car and asked who was paying. I spoke up. Now, mind you, I'm the only woman (and little to boot) in the company of 3 grown men and one small boy. I think this particular tow truck operator (who was not the one at the scene) decided that it would be worth his while to hassle me.
"It's $102."
"Okay," I reply, and I hand him my Visa.
"Don't you have cash?" he says, rather snarkily.
"No, I don't carry that much cash with me."
"What about your boss over there? Does he have cash?" nodding to my fiance.
Now, here I pause and think to myself "my 'boss'?? Excuse me??" However, I manage to keep my cool and I said, "no, he doesn't."
"This is my first job of the day. I'd really rather deal with cash," he continues. At this point, I'm very unhappy.
"Well I don't have cash, so you either take the card or you don't get paid. Those are your options."
He grumbles and takes the card from me. When the transaction is over, he hastily hands me the receipt and drives away.
I had the receipt to the body shop guy to make a copy of it, and he stops short. They charged me for 6 miles of towing when the shop is barely a mile from the scene. So Peter (they body shop guy) instantly got on the phone with the towing company and informed them that he was none-too-pleased that they were trying to rip off one of his customers. He then called my credit card company and helped me to dispute the charge. This guy is my new hero.
We then dropped the other driver off at the subway and went home.
Now I've been trying for days to get this towing issue resolved, but all they do is take my name and number and then never call me back. I've disputed the charges, so I guess if they want to get paid they are going to have to call me back.
So there are loonies on the road and loonies working in the towing industry. And here I thought I had gotten rid of my loony-magnetism.
Labels: car accident
posted by Jennifer at 9:45 AM
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