Collision
I was in a car accident last week, the day before the eclipse. Don’t worry, no one was hurt. Just a little property damage. It was, however, my fault. Sort of. I was exiting a parking lot, or trying to. Traffic was at a standstill, and I was hoping to turn left. No traffic lights or stop sign, so not really an intersection. Someone finally motioned me to go through, and I did, only to get hit by another car in the passing lane. The driver was truly upset, jumping out of her car and screaming at me to stay where I was. The other motorists were not thrilled with this idea, and I managed to persuade her to meet me on the other side of the street, where we/she calmed down, exchanged information, took photos, and even squeezed in a few hugs.
I had to get an accident report, so the next day I headed to the collision centre, where everyone was remarkably kind and patient. It was a self-serve set-up at a kiosk, where I was eventually asked to draw what happened on a computer screen. With my finger. I was non-plussed. I have little to no artistic talent, and had no idea how to approach the project. This is pretty much what I ended up creating:
It seemed to do the trick, but I felt that it was somewhat lacking in detail and nuance. It didn’t show intent, or causality, or state of mind. Had I the tools on hand, or the ability, I would have presented something like this:
Bear with me, it took me the better part of the day to create this scenario #2. I am hopeless at digital imagery. But it got me to thinking: what if I had carte blanche to make this a little more interesting, if not entirely truthful?
There you go. Three versions of the same incident. All to say that no one was hurt, the damage wasn’t too serious, and I really hope Anna (not her real name) never reads this. Just kidding, Anna! Happy Birthday!
Hey, you know who really is wickedly funny? Michaela Watkins! You know Michaela. She’s been in every truly witty TV and movie project you can imagine, from Catastrophe to Enlightened to two seasons on SNL. She has a new movie out called Suze, where she plays a woman who reclaims herself after her daughter leaves home for college. She’s our guest this week on the podcast. And speaking of claims and reclaiming, please consider upgrading to paid. My deductible is huge!