Here's what happened.
I like to start explaining this past Saturday (2002.4.20) with the proceeding Friday night. That Friday, I was still reeling from my fever from my flu. I called up my buddy Jean and she's telling me to drink fluids and eat something. OK, so I make the moves to do this: get drinks and drink, and I start to make the food, but I'm getting really tired really fast. By the time I'm done, I'm so tired that I can't eat the food. At some point in the night, i st on my glasses, but I didn't check them. Now, on to SATURDAY.
Boy oh boy, I did not see this day coming at all. That morning, I call the folks to tell 'em I'm sick and that I'm gonna go to the hospital. Mom says to take a cab. Please keep this in mind as the story progresses. i go to get my glasses and i see that they're merely bent out of shape. I tried to bend them back into shape��
��and the temple(y'know, the arm thing that sits on your ear) breaks off from the frame. So not only do I have to go to the hospital, but I also have to go and get my glasses fixed. I contacted the optician store and I told them what happened. They said the might be able to fix it and to come on down. So, I got my clothes on and my cellphone is still in my pants. The instant I put my pants on my cellphone lets me know it has a low battery,��
��so i left it at home to charge.For some reason, I chose to drive. I guess I rationalized that since my mom said to take a cab to the hospital and not the optician's store then it would be OK.
So, I'm driving down a single-lane road and I get to an intersection where there's an island and a right turn lane that allows you to merge into traffic on a 2-lane road. There's a red 1994 Hyundai Elantra in front of me and the driver inside it is watching for oncoming traffic and I'm watching for oncoming traffic also and I thought that they had already went and they didn't move at all and��
��CONK--I hit the car in front of me. I reach for my cell, which is not there and I curse my luck. There are two women inside; one is already injured. Turns out they were on their way to the hospital--like me! Both people get out and they're OK. A quick check of the parties involved tells that my car's fine and I'm fine(relatively speaking), but the '94 Elantra has a small crack in the rear bumper. Anyways, the driver and I were talking and I asked, "How much is this gonna bust you for?"
She says, "Looks like about $300 damage. Look, I got things to do, so if you just give me $300, we cann just forget about it."
��OH NO YOU DON'T! I SAW CHANGING LANES I think to myself. I told her, "I don't have $300 to give you, ma'am"; she replies with, "Then call the insurance people, then."
Shit. Cool and calm on the outside, I look in the glove compartment for my insurance card�and I'm looking�and I'm looking�and I'm looking���
��I can't find my auto insurance card!Oh Bogawd! I tell the two women I can't find it and I run over to the nearest payphone and call Mom to let her know. I spent a dollar calling my mom and she's mad--obviously--because she told me to take a cab and I didn't and now I'm in a car accident. She says to call Dad on the cell. My mind was fuzzy and I couldn't remember my dad's cell and I asked her for the number, but my mom couldn't hear me. She was too busy being mad, saying things like, "�HE CAN'T EVEN SEE!" and such. I asked her loudly and then��
��the payphone cut off. I pump in another dollar and ask her for the number to my dad's cell. She then says, "Don't worry, I'll call him for you." D'oh. Right after that, I call the cops and they come pretty fast. The officer was really nice to both parties involved--up until the point about license, registration and proof of insurance. Both parties had the license and the registry, but I was ass-out on insurance. NOTE: Turns out I had the insurance, it's just that I was so nervous, I didn't look hard enough. This was my first car accident. Turns out the women in the Elantra had their insurance card, but that's all it was, because the policy expired. So, the both of us were given $60 tickets for Failure of Proof of Insurance. I got a second ticket for Following Too Closely, a $90 fine and four points on my license. I was given the option to take defensive driving school to get the points off my license. Dude, I've been itching to go back to school since I recieved my B.S.
During this whole ordeal, the passenger in the 94 Elantra starts to complain of lower back pain. The cop calls the paramedics. Paramedics show up and put the passenger in a neck brace, put her on a board, put her on a stretcher and into the ambulance. Oh Bogawd. That's�not a good sign. At all.
At the end of this little meet & greet, the officer and I have a talk:
(NOTE: This exchange is not verbatim; it's paraphrased)
Officer: Mr. Watson, I've noticed that throughout this entire ordeal, you've seemed a little bit disturbed than would be normal for a minor traffic accident.
SW: Dude, all i wanted to do is go get my glasses fixed so's i can go to the hospital to take care of this fever.
Officer: Well, I hope that you have a better day.
��AT LEAST IT COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE�