If you've been keeping up with my blog, you will have recently read my entry Bad Drivers Crack Me Up, in which I shared the traffic accident in which I was a victim. Well, the plot has thickened since that day so I thought I'd take a moment to fill everyone in.
About two weeks after the accident occurred, I received a call from a strange number. Considering I was expecting calls from insurance adjusters and the body shop, I figured it was one of those culprits. Shockingly, the person on the other end of the line was none other than the doofus who drove out of the alley and thus caused the accident. He told me in broken English that he was sorry for causing the accident and that he should have been looking before he pulled out of the alley. He also apologized for not being responsive when I asked him if he was all right, because he was dazed and confused after the crash. I would really like to believe that this gentleman was sincere in his apology, but sadly the timing of the call is suspicious. The day before the call, I spoke to the insurance adjuster person and she said she was going to contact this man's insurance company in order to get his statement. It is my assumption that he gave his statement, was told that he was at 100% fault, and decided he had better apologize. Whether he apologized because he was sincerely sorry or because he wanted to butter me up so I don't sue for personal injury is debatable. I choose to believe that he just called because he wanted to own up and take responsibility for his actions. I need to put more faith in people.
Anyway, that was the last I heard of this man. Later in the day, I received a call from my adjuster. She said that he was found at fault and so she would send the go-ahead to the body shop so I could book my car in to be repaired. Sadly, this whole accident thing is anything but easy. I received a call from the adjuster a few days after and she told me that the insurance company wanted to view the damages. I guessed that the other driver's insurance company wasn't accepting the estimate I received and they wanted to send someone to view the vehicle. My adjuster said that the viewing was to determine if the vehicle was a write-off or not.
When I got off the phone, I remember thinking to myself "no fucking way." There was no chance that I was going to bend over and let them write off my car. The problem here is that I already had damage from a previous rear-end collision, so my back bumper was all gibbled. Also I was a victim of a hit-and-run in which some asshole tore up my front left side. These damages would be deducted from the wholesale value of the car and thus increase the likelihood of a write-off. Clearly that is not fair, since the rear of the vehicle was already set to be repaired and the front left of the vehicle was going to be repaired simply by luck (the bumper damage on the right side resulted in the entire bumper needing replacement, so that damage on the left side would have to be fixed as a result).
At any rate, we set up a time for me to drop off my vehicle at the body shop and take a rental car until the adjuster could finish taking a look at the car. My adjuster told me that the rental car company would contact me to schedule a time for me to pick up a rental car. I received no call and therefore did not go to drop off my car on the scheduled day.
Days past and I called my adjuster to ask her WTF was going on. She said that I never showed up for my appointment and I told her that the rental car company did not contact me. This bitch then proceeded to tell me all matter-of-fact that I should have called the company when I did not receive a call. Well, that's a nice idea, but I was specifically told that they would call me AND I had no idea what company it was that would be renting me a car. This cow was unapologetic and treated me like I was a moron. That frustrated me and I got angry. I told her that I would reschedule for the next day and I would call the company myself to avoid another problem. She told me that the man who went to inspect my car was "upset" that my vehicle had not been left at the body shop. I then went off on her. I told her that the damage estimate was from a reputable body shop and that this whole "viewing" was nonsense and an utter waste of my time. It was then that she told me that "we" (referring to MY insurance company) had a right to view the car. What the hell? Why would my insurance company need to view the damage? I was found not at fault, so it is the other party's insurance company that must pay out for the repairs, no? I asked her why my insurance company needed to see the car and she merely spouted the bureaucratic "it's policy." Whatever. I told her that this accident was not my fault and I should not be so inconvenienced. This stupid ho replied with "Well, accidents are never convenient." Argh! Thanks for respecting your clients.
The call ended with my adjuster and I then called the rental company. Sadly, they closed before I would be able to drop my car off in the evening. I called my adjuster back and she told me the car had to be present at the body shop by 8AM the next day. I said "I'll see what I can do" and hung up. It was then that I realized that I was working late and did not feel like driving my car across the city to the body shop in the middle of Calgary's morning rush hour just to appease some assholes who are trying to screw me. I called the adjuster back yet again, but she did not answer. I left a message saying that I would have to reschedule the appointment as I would be unable to get my car to the body shop on time. I asked her to call me back and she did not.
That was yesterday. Today, I received a call at around 11:00AM from the body shop. The gentleman asked me where my car was, as an insurance company agent was present to view it. I had the gentleman put the adjuster on the phone and I apologized for the misunderstandings. He told me he was unable to contact my adjuster either. I told the dude that I would bring my vehicle right over for him to look at it, and I did. My politeness to the man resulted in an added bonus. He said that he was supposed to report the previous unreported damage on my car (from the hit-and-run) so that the insurance company could reduce the amount they are to pay for the repairs and make me have to pay out of pocket, but he would not bother since the section would be repaired anyway. That was awesome of him and I really appreciate it. And for the record, I was nice to the man because it wasn't his fault that my adjuster is a tool...not because I needed him to cut me a break.
Okay, so he looked at my car for a few minutes and sent me on my way. Now I need only wait for the body shop to schedule a booking for my car to be repaired. And all this in only three and a half bloody weeks. That's unacceptable time to wait just to get CLEARED to get a car repaired. Who knows when I'll get the booking. Who knows when I'll actually have my car in for repairs. Ridiculous! What do people do whose cars are rendered undrivable? Ugh. I hate insurance companies and their bullshit.
The insurance company is an evil beast. It's a business that should be working for the client and not the other way around. The amount of money I sink into my insurance company should entitle me to some respect and should prevent the wasting of my time, money, and energy in the event of an incident that was not my fault. Sadly, the insurance company looks out only for itself and has no scruples about screwing over its clients in order to save a buck. If only insurance was a highly competitive field, where the different companies were cutthroat in their race to be on top of the pack. Rates would go down and/or perks would go up. Suddenly the client would be of importance and would likely be treated like a person instead of a number.
Of course, in this perfect world, I'd look like Tom Welling and be worth billions. Ah, what a wonderful world it would be!
But things aren't so terrible. I spoke with my adjuster again after the vehicle was viewed. She apologized for the delay in responding to my voicemail from yesterday, though it was the phoniest apology I've heard in quite some time. She was unaware that the man had viewed my car and she said we would reschedule again. However, she said that this would be third time she had to schedule an appointment and would like to avoid doing so again. I asked "oh, is this inconvenient for you?" to which she said "it is when I'm busy, yes." My reply?
"Well, accidents are never convenient."
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Bad Drivers Crack Me Up
This one didn't bother to signal before pulling in front of me. That one stopped at the end of a merge lane. The other one is driving forty kilometers an hour below the speed limit. He's texting and not looking at the road. She's waiting until the last second to stop and breaking really hard. They're not leaving proper following distance, overestimating the amount of time they have to turn in front of oncoming traffic, and slipping through icy intersections because they aren't driving according to road conditions.
Every day it's something. Hell, it's everything. There are so many ignorant, thoughtless, and inattentive drivers, all with a sense of entitlement, with whom I have to share the roads. As a New Year's resolution, I decided I was going to try and calm down when driving...in other words, when someone fucks up or does something disrespectful, I was going to just let it go instead of getting mad. I was going to try and stop complaining so much, particularly about other drivers. I have noticed a marked decrease in the amount of complaining I do, and for the most part I don't miss it. However, when it comes to motorists, it's the hardest habit I think I've ever attempted to break. I think that is because these are heavy, serious complaints.Bad driving behaviours can lead to serious consequences.
Rewind to yesterday afternoon. I was on my way along 6th Avenue NE. I had just turned left on to the road, and so I was driving at about 30km/h (working my way to the 50km/h limit). Roads were wet from all the melting and it was about 9 degrees Celsius. I was about one hundred feet from the intersection when suddenly a silver Mazda 3 bolted out of the alleyway to my right. I yanked my wheel left to try and avoid a collision, but he was coming out too fast and his car ended up blocking essentially the entire road. I closed my eyes and BAM!
My front right smashed into his front left. It was over as quickly as it began. My car was still movable, so I pulled it forward and parked it. His vehicle was no longer mobile so it ended up sitting across the intersection. I got out of the vehicle and there were several routes I could have taken to approach him. I could have yelled and screamed, I could have threaten him, or I could have attacked him. But that's not the kind of person I am. The first thing I did was ask him if he was okay. All he did was rub his neck and moan. Was he serious? Was he playing the injury card? It was his fucking fault and he was trying to set up his injury story? Fuck off, you stupid prick.
I then saw the back door of his vehicle open and a woman exited the car...WITH an infant carrier. Just great. I picked up my phone and I called 911. I didn't have any local police numbers and there was a chance that there was an injured baby. The driver asked me who I was calling and I told him. He seemed shocked. I told him that the baby might be hurt and I had to call. The police were quickly dispatched and arrived within about ten minutes. I told the cop what happened and filled out my report. However, the other driver began to piss and moan about how it wasn't his fault. Fortunately for me, the points of impact and the location of his vehicle pretty much told the story of what happened.
My front bumper is now torn and useless. Headlight cracked and broken. Hood and fender dented and scraped. Thus, a bad driver cracked me up...har har har.
My arm is strained and my neck and part of my back sore. I cannot drive my car and it's going to take my valuable time and effort to take it in for estimates and get it fixed. And I deserve none of it. I'm being punished because some stupid asshole couldn't be bothered to look both ways before exiting an alley, nor drive out of it at a slow reasonable pace. It's jackoffs like him that make me so angry when I see people engage in bad driving behaviours. Because once in a while, those behaviours cause problems, often more serious than what happened to me.
So next time you're driving and you don't use your turn signal when you should, or you're driving even a bit too fast for the road conditions, or you can't see who's coming, take a deep break and ask yourself what would Dave do? Perhaps if more people ask WWDD, there will be far fewer drivers on the road for me to complain about.
Every day it's something. Hell, it's everything. There are so many ignorant, thoughtless, and inattentive drivers, all with a sense of entitlement, with whom I have to share the roads. As a New Year's resolution, I decided I was going to try and calm down when driving...in other words, when someone fucks up or does something disrespectful, I was going to just let it go instead of getting mad. I was going to try and stop complaining so much, particularly about other drivers. I have noticed a marked decrease in the amount of complaining I do, and for the most part I don't miss it. However, when it comes to motorists, it's the hardest habit I think I've ever attempted to break. I think that is because these are heavy, serious complaints.Bad driving behaviours can lead to serious consequences.
Rewind to yesterday afternoon. I was on my way along 6th Avenue NE. I had just turned left on to the road, and so I was driving at about 30km/h (working my way to the 50km/h limit). Roads were wet from all the melting and it was about 9 degrees Celsius. I was about one hundred feet from the intersection when suddenly a silver Mazda 3 bolted out of the alleyway to my right. I yanked my wheel left to try and avoid a collision, but he was coming out too fast and his car ended up blocking essentially the entire road. I closed my eyes and BAM!
My front right smashed into his front left. It was over as quickly as it began. My car was still movable, so I pulled it forward and parked it. His vehicle was no longer mobile so it ended up sitting across the intersection. I got out of the vehicle and there were several routes I could have taken to approach him. I could have yelled and screamed, I could have threaten him, or I could have attacked him. But that's not the kind of person I am. The first thing I did was ask him if he was okay. All he did was rub his neck and moan. Was he serious? Was he playing the injury card? It was his fucking fault and he was trying to set up his injury story? Fuck off, you stupid prick.
I then saw the back door of his vehicle open and a woman exited the car...WITH an infant carrier. Just great. I picked up my phone and I called 911. I didn't have any local police numbers and there was a chance that there was an injured baby. The driver asked me who I was calling and I told him. He seemed shocked. I told him that the baby might be hurt and I had to call. The police were quickly dispatched and arrived within about ten minutes. I told the cop what happened and filled out my report. However, the other driver began to piss and moan about how it wasn't his fault. Fortunately for me, the points of impact and the location of his vehicle pretty much told the story of what happened.
My front bumper is now torn and useless. Headlight cracked and broken. Hood and fender dented and scraped. Thus, a bad driver cracked me up...har har har.
My arm is strained and my neck and part of my back sore. I cannot drive my car and it's going to take my valuable time and effort to take it in for estimates and get it fixed. And I deserve none of it. I'm being punished because some stupid asshole couldn't be bothered to look both ways before exiting an alley, nor drive out of it at a slow reasonable pace. It's jackoffs like him that make me so angry when I see people engage in bad driving behaviours. Because once in a while, those behaviours cause problems, often more serious than what happened to me.
So next time you're driving and you don't use your turn signal when you should, or you're driving even a bit too fast for the road conditions, or you can't see who's coming, take a deep break and ask yourself what would Dave do? Perhaps if more people ask WWDD, there will be far fewer drivers on the road for me to complain about.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Road Warrior
I'm actually surprised that I've had an updated-daily blog for about two weeks and I have not written any rants about driving. Seriously shocked, in fact. While I can appreciate that 95% of the drivers out there are good at driving, that other 5% makes my life behind the wheel a frustrating schnut-busting crapfest.
That being said, you probably are assuming that I'm going to bitch about other drivers in today's entry. You may assume that I'll talk about the moron who cut me off while having a clearly visible for sale sign in his rear window (he was such a pushover when I called to tell him off, by the way). Or maybe you assume I'll talk about the lady who thought it was all right to STRADDLE the segmented lines (thus using two of the three lanes) while driving 65km/h on Deerfoot Trail (that one was reported to 911 by yours truly). Maybe you assume I'll talk about some general WTFisms I see on the road on a daily basis.
But nope, that's not what this blog is about. I want to tell tales of humour, intrigue, or ones that just make you go "huh?" That's why instead I want to share the story of the worst day of driving I have ever had.
I was still fairly novice as a driver at the time (this was late summer or early fall 1999). I had a blue 1982 Mercury Zephyr that usually worked. It wasn't the sweetest ride you've ever seen but it didn't clunk when it drove and it almost always got me from point A to point B (more than I can say for my second car). Most of the things that happened to me that day were the result of poor judgment due to my lack of experience.
At around noon on a weekday, I left my home and hopped into the Zeph. I had school later in the afternoon but wanted to run by A&B Sound and HMV in Sunridge Mall to find some Smashing Pumpkins singles (I was really into the Pumpkins back then). There was little time to waste, so instead of pulling away from the curb and driving to an intersection to perform a legal u-turn, I decided just to do a 180 degree turn from where I was parked. The Zeph was good at a few things, but tight turning radius was not one of them. I began to turn when there were no cars coming from either direction. My car swooped away from the curb and arced its way around. However, I was clearly able to see that I was not going to complete the turn without going on to the curb. I went to hit my break but WHOOPS! I hit the gas instead. My car and I flopped on to the curb and zipped up on the neighbour's grass, knocking over three garden gnomes and countless plants in the flower bed that traced along the walkway to the front door.
"FUCK!" I yelled as I threw the vehicle into reverse. I pulled back out on to the road, greeted by the sound of a horn from the car that I didn't bother to look for before I darted back into the road. I pulled forward and parked along the curb and the driver sped past me, giving a dirty look and a "thumbs up." I looked over at the damage on the lawn. I didn't think the gnomes were broken, and the plants were going to die soon anyway. I looked carefully around. I didn't see anyone ogling me from their windows so I assumed no one saw me. If the dude in the car saw what I did, he didn't care enough to stop and let someone know. I pulled away from the curb safely and went on my way.
This next part no one ever believes. And I don't blame them. It does sound made up. But I swear to you that it is true. I was driving along Yankee Valley Road (to those not in the know of Airdrie's roads, this was once a single lane each way thoroughfare from one side of Airdrie to the other (it has since been expanded to three lanes each way). Minding my business, I'm following the rules of the signs that I pass, when a large red pickup truck comes barreling along the road in the opposite direction. A couple of cool kids were driving so this was no shock. In the bed of the truck, there were several girls sitting. Suddenly, one of the girls turns to the side and looks at me. Maybe she liked me or maybe she wanted attention, but this girl lifted her shirt and flashed me! She was wearing a bra but she was hot so I HAD to look. Perhaps a little too long I looked, as I felt my vehicle begin to vibrate and tip. When I replaced my gaze to the road, I discovered that I had let my car start to drive into the ditch! I was completely off the road. Half my car was on the shoulder and the other half on the grass getting ready to head down where I wouldn't be able to get it back out. I quickly yanked the wheel the other way and reclaimed the safety of the road. At least this time I didn't cut someone off terribly, but it was still quite embarrassing. After two incredibly bad things happened in a span of under five minutes, I should have turned around and went home for the day. But I was either too brave or too stupid. I continued.
The drive on the highway was serene and uneventful. In fact, I successfully managed to get *almost* to Sunridge Mall before something else bad happened. I had to make a left turn from Barlow Trail onto Sunridge Blvd. I hated this turn because it was before a turning signal was installed at the lights, so you had to take a chance whenever you turned. When it was my turn to go, I crept into the intersection and waited for an opening. Waited, waited, and waited. But there were too many cars pouring north. When the light went yellow, I waited for oncoming traffic to stop and then I hit the gas to clear the intersection. Fail. My car decided it was a perfect time to stall out on me. I don't know HOW I managed it, but my Zephyr ended up blocking half of the left lane for westbound travelers, the entire left lane for eastbound travelers, and a chunk of the right lane for eastbound cars. Not to mention blocking one and a half lanes of the northbound lanes (though they had a red light at the time).
There were SO MANY horns being sounded. I cranked the ignition over and over, nearly in tears. I begged my car to start again. No exaggeration...I BEGGED IT! I turned it over, and over, and over. People were screaming for me to move my quote "fucking piece of shit," yet no one got out and offered me a push so I could let people through. People threw up hands with various fingers lifted as they squeezed by. The light for east/west traffic turned yellow as I still desperately struggled with the ignition. Then...oh yes, then! FINALLY! My car roared to life. Cars began to move into the intersection to head north but I didn't care. I floored the fucking thing and blew through the intersection. More honking. I didn't care. I was free. I was on my way to the mall!
Bad luck comes in threes. I remember telling myself that as I approached the mall. What the hell did I know?
I drove into the parking lot and decided I'd try and find a place on the lower level near the Zellers (west) doors. The parking lot was PACKED because a large section of the lot was undergoing repairs and was blocked off, so everyone had to make do with what was left. Sure, I could have probably gone around to the east side to park, but I was already in the west side and I was sticking with it. I wheeled up and down the aisles, looking for a spot. Up one, down another. Nothing. I tried stalking a couple as they walked away from Zellers with bags in tow. However, they dumped the bags and went back in. Who the hell does that?
Anyway, as I paced the aisles, I FINALLY saw it. The spot. A shiny, happy, gleaming spot about three quarters the way down the aisle! I pushed on the gas to get there as fast as I could. NO ONE would trump me! The spot was mine! I got closer and closer...but wait! A car pulled into the aisle from the opposite side! No way was I letting him have the spot. I flicked on my turn signal (the universal sign for "piss off...that's MY spot") and I accelerated. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be challenging me. He drove past the spot. Yes! It was mine. As I got close enough, I turned the wheel to coast triumphantly into the spot. As it turned out, I almost coasted triumphantly into the damn motorcycle that was parked in that spot. ARGH! Even to this day I can't stand when you see a spot that appears empty and it turns out to have a compact car or bike in it!
Defeated, I backed up. I heard a SMACK come from behind my car. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a Chinese couple. The man had his shoulders raised and hands up in a "what the hell, man" expression. The woman, her hand still stretched forward, was likely the person who hit my car with her hand. So yeah, I could have killed a Chinese couple. I let them pass by and gave the obligatory "sorry" hand gesture and then continued to back up. The parking stall hunt continued.
Minutes turned into more minutes and still there was nothing. No one was leaving. The number of sharks in the parking tank was also increasing. But no problem. At the end of an aisle I saw yet another spot. I was excited! I began to drive for it, conscious of the fact that it may be occupied by someone's tiny piece of shit vehicle, but I had to remain optimistic! As I drove at a reasonable pace, some assface in a Celica zoomed past me. That's right, in the opposing lane, he decided to go past me because my 20km/h was too slow. Shit! He was going to take my spot! I sped up so he couldn't get back over (thus unable to get the turning arc required for the spot as it was on the left. The aisle was coming to a close and so Celica backed down and got behind me. I soared like an eagle into the empty spot! I got out of my car with a grin on my face. The ass couldn't even beat me while cheating. I got the middle finger straight up as he drove around and into the next aisle. But I won, and nothing would take that away from me.
Well, almost nothing.
Sure, it was a handicapped parking stall. But I figured I was only going in for a minute. I began walking to the mall when some egg-shaped security guard walked over to me. He told me I couldn't park there because it was for handicapped parking only. I said my sign was in the car (just not in the window) and I was picking up my ailing grandmother. He said that was all right and I went on my way.
Unfortunately, HMV did not have any new singles for me. Fortunately, no one ticketed my car for being parked where it was. A small victory in an otherwise travesty of a day. I experienced a lot of shit in a short period of time but I learned a lot as well.
Namely call a store ahead of time to make sure they have stock.
That being said, you probably are assuming that I'm going to bitch about other drivers in today's entry. You may assume that I'll talk about the moron who cut me off while having a clearly visible for sale sign in his rear window (he was such a pushover when I called to tell him off, by the way). Or maybe you assume I'll talk about the lady who thought it was all right to STRADDLE the segmented lines (thus using two of the three lanes) while driving 65km/h on Deerfoot Trail (that one was reported to 911 by yours truly). Maybe you assume I'll talk about some general WTFisms I see on the road on a daily basis.
But nope, that's not what this blog is about. I want to tell tales of humour, intrigue, or ones that just make you go "huh?" That's why instead I want to share the story of the worst day of driving I have ever had.
I was still fairly novice as a driver at the time (this was late summer or early fall 1999). I had a blue 1982 Mercury Zephyr that usually worked. It wasn't the sweetest ride you've ever seen but it didn't clunk when it drove and it almost always got me from point A to point B (more than I can say for my second car). Most of the things that happened to me that day were the result of poor judgment due to my lack of experience.
At around noon on a weekday, I left my home and hopped into the Zeph. I had school later in the afternoon but wanted to run by A&B Sound and HMV in Sunridge Mall to find some Smashing Pumpkins singles (I was really into the Pumpkins back then). There was little time to waste, so instead of pulling away from the curb and driving to an intersection to perform a legal u-turn, I decided just to do a 180 degree turn from where I was parked. The Zeph was good at a few things, but tight turning radius was not one of them. I began to turn when there were no cars coming from either direction. My car swooped away from the curb and arced its way around. However, I was clearly able to see that I was not going to complete the turn without going on to the curb. I went to hit my break but WHOOPS! I hit the gas instead. My car and I flopped on to the curb and zipped up on the neighbour's grass, knocking over three garden gnomes and countless plants in the flower bed that traced along the walkway to the front door.
"FUCK!" I yelled as I threw the vehicle into reverse. I pulled back out on to the road, greeted by the sound of a horn from the car that I didn't bother to look for before I darted back into the road. I pulled forward and parked along the curb and the driver sped past me, giving a dirty look and a "thumbs up." I looked over at the damage on the lawn. I didn't think the gnomes were broken, and the plants were going to die soon anyway. I looked carefully around. I didn't see anyone ogling me from their windows so I assumed no one saw me. If the dude in the car saw what I did, he didn't care enough to stop and let someone know. I pulled away from the curb safely and went on my way.
This next part no one ever believes. And I don't blame them. It does sound made up. But I swear to you that it is true. I was driving along Yankee Valley Road (to those not in the know of Airdrie's roads, this was once a single lane each way thoroughfare from one side of Airdrie to the other (it has since been expanded to three lanes each way). Minding my business, I'm following the rules of the signs that I pass, when a large red pickup truck comes barreling along the road in the opposite direction. A couple of cool kids were driving so this was no shock. In the bed of the truck, there were several girls sitting. Suddenly, one of the girls turns to the side and looks at me. Maybe she liked me or maybe she wanted attention, but this girl lifted her shirt and flashed me! She was wearing a bra but she was hot so I HAD to look. Perhaps a little too long I looked, as I felt my vehicle begin to vibrate and tip. When I replaced my gaze to the road, I discovered that I had let my car start to drive into the ditch! I was completely off the road. Half my car was on the shoulder and the other half on the grass getting ready to head down where I wouldn't be able to get it back out. I quickly yanked the wheel the other way and reclaimed the safety of the road. At least this time I didn't cut someone off terribly, but it was still quite embarrassing. After two incredibly bad things happened in a span of under five minutes, I should have turned around and went home for the day. But I was either too brave or too stupid. I continued.
The drive on the highway was serene and uneventful. In fact, I successfully managed to get *almost* to Sunridge Mall before something else bad happened. I had to make a left turn from Barlow Trail onto Sunridge Blvd. I hated this turn because it was before a turning signal was installed at the lights, so you had to take a chance whenever you turned. When it was my turn to go, I crept into the intersection and waited for an opening. Waited, waited, and waited. But there were too many cars pouring north. When the light went yellow, I waited for oncoming traffic to stop and then I hit the gas to clear the intersection. Fail. My car decided it was a perfect time to stall out on me. I don't know HOW I managed it, but my Zephyr ended up blocking half of the left lane for westbound travelers, the entire left lane for eastbound travelers, and a chunk of the right lane for eastbound cars. Not to mention blocking one and a half lanes of the northbound lanes (though they had a red light at the time).
There were SO MANY horns being sounded. I cranked the ignition over and over, nearly in tears. I begged my car to start again. No exaggeration...I BEGGED IT! I turned it over, and over, and over. People were screaming for me to move my quote "fucking piece of shit," yet no one got out and offered me a push so I could let people through. People threw up hands with various fingers lifted as they squeezed by. The light for east/west traffic turned yellow as I still desperately struggled with the ignition. Then...oh yes, then! FINALLY! My car roared to life. Cars began to move into the intersection to head north but I didn't care. I floored the fucking thing and blew through the intersection. More honking. I didn't care. I was free. I was on my way to the mall!
Bad luck comes in threes. I remember telling myself that as I approached the mall. What the hell did I know?
I drove into the parking lot and decided I'd try and find a place on the lower level near the Zellers (west) doors. The parking lot was PACKED because a large section of the lot was undergoing repairs and was blocked off, so everyone had to make do with what was left. Sure, I could have probably gone around to the east side to park, but I was already in the west side and I was sticking with it. I wheeled up and down the aisles, looking for a spot. Up one, down another. Nothing. I tried stalking a couple as they walked away from Zellers with bags in tow. However, they dumped the bags and went back in. Who the hell does that?
Anyway, as I paced the aisles, I FINALLY saw it. The spot. A shiny, happy, gleaming spot about three quarters the way down the aisle! I pushed on the gas to get there as fast as I could. NO ONE would trump me! The spot was mine! I got closer and closer...but wait! A car pulled into the aisle from the opposite side! No way was I letting him have the spot. I flicked on my turn signal (the universal sign for "piss off...that's MY spot") and I accelerated. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be challenging me. He drove past the spot. Yes! It was mine. As I got close enough, I turned the wheel to coast triumphantly into the spot. As it turned out, I almost coasted triumphantly into the damn motorcycle that was parked in that spot. ARGH! Even to this day I can't stand when you see a spot that appears empty and it turns out to have a compact car or bike in it!
Defeated, I backed up. I heard a SMACK come from behind my car. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a Chinese couple. The man had his shoulders raised and hands up in a "what the hell, man" expression. The woman, her hand still stretched forward, was likely the person who hit my car with her hand. So yeah, I could have killed a Chinese couple. I let them pass by and gave the obligatory "sorry" hand gesture and then continued to back up. The parking stall hunt continued.
Minutes turned into more minutes and still there was nothing. No one was leaving. The number of sharks in the parking tank was also increasing. But no problem. At the end of an aisle I saw yet another spot. I was excited! I began to drive for it, conscious of the fact that it may be occupied by someone's tiny piece of shit vehicle, but I had to remain optimistic! As I drove at a reasonable pace, some assface in a Celica zoomed past me. That's right, in the opposing lane, he decided to go past me because my 20km/h was too slow. Shit! He was going to take my spot! I sped up so he couldn't get back over (thus unable to get the turning arc required for the spot as it was on the left. The aisle was coming to a close and so Celica backed down and got behind me. I soared like an eagle into the empty spot! I got out of my car with a grin on my face. The ass couldn't even beat me while cheating. I got the middle finger straight up as he drove around and into the next aisle. But I won, and nothing would take that away from me.
Well, almost nothing.
Sure, it was a handicapped parking stall. But I figured I was only going in for a minute. I began walking to the mall when some egg-shaped security guard walked over to me. He told me I couldn't park there because it was for handicapped parking only. I said my sign was in the car (just not in the window) and I was picking up my ailing grandmother. He said that was all right and I went on my way.
Unfortunately, HMV did not have any new singles for me. Fortunately, no one ticketed my car for being parked where it was. A small victory in an otherwise travesty of a day. I experienced a lot of shit in a short period of time but I learned a lot as well.
Namely call a store ahead of time to make sure they have stock.
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