Perhaps you might have heard of a lil hail storm that hit dallas in mid-June? No? If not, let me tell you a not-so-short story about how that lil hail storm broke my car. And me.
Here were the facts -
Can you blame me though? I had no idea what to do when your car is broken by falling ice! No idea who to call, what the next steps are, or how to fix it.
Please allow me to preface this story...I am normally a completely rational, completely calm, solution-oriented gal. My natural first thoughts were...
maybe-not-so- politely hung up on her.
Next call was to roommate Lindsey. Who I knew was in yoga class and wasn't surprised when she didn't answer. Next call to Jessyca, who I was supposed to be meeting for dinner. Don't expect me.
Fail. Upon realizing that I needed help (not only to get home, but also to figure out what to do next), that's when I lost it. And cried. Lots for the next few hours.
Next call was to Kristen, who lives just about 5 minutes away...
Kristen and her roommate Becky talked me out of a mild panic attack. Helped clean up the water and enough glass out of the drivers seat to get me home. Slowly and carefully. The rest of the night was spent trying to figure out who I needed to talk to, what I needed to do, how I was going to get to work for my 8am client presentation the next morning, and trying to hold it all together.
At 11pm I finally got off the phone with the insurance company. I can't remember any of the decisions I made in that conversation and I certainly didn't know if those were the right decisions. All I remember is that this wasn't going to be an easy fix. And it was going to take a week to even get someone to look at my car, much less fix the sunroof so that I could drive it. Was that right? Surely no, surely there was something they weren't telling me? A quicker solution?
Sigh. Overwhelming sigh.
Reminder, I am not typically an over-emotional kinda girl. I'm more of the "this is fine, it will all be fine!" mentality. However. This is my car. That I own. (or sorta own?) It has been mine for less than a year. I try to take really good care of it. I'm new to this after all! And now after semi-uncontrollable events, it was broken. And there were all these steps that I needed to take to fix it, but NO ONE COULD TELL ME WHAT THOSE STEPS WERE.
Aren't these big kid life things supposed to be easier to deal with when you live near your parents? Apparently not the case.
My ohsocaring mother had a few gems of wisdom to share...most that I will not repeat here because it seemed as if the more she talked, the worse I felt about things. But among those gems, this was one she ended on...
Much. Too. Soon.
Rachel picked me up very early to take me to work the next morning. Thankfully.
"Good morning, Princess." she says.
"Good morning, chauffeur." I answer, in considerably better spirits than the night before.
My insurance agent, Larry, kindly called me back in response to the distress message I left on his voicemail the night before. Apparently Dad spoke to him and asked that he call his hyper-sensitive daughter and talk her down from the edge. Dad to the rescue.
After driving to Plano for a rental car. (or making Mom drive me to Plano...) Apparently rental cars were on high demand in Dallas. Number 85 on the waiting list wasn't going to cut it. I ended up getting my sunroof replaced the next week - with a careful drive down I-75 and a few hours with other victims of the storm. And a pop-up claims office took 2 hours to tell me that there was another $3000 in exterior damage. Also neat.
Hey. Remember when I wanted to move to Texas? And have a big kid life? And own things? I take it all back. All of it. This NEVER would have happened in New York!
Finally, this week my lil Honda is in the shop getting all the dents removed. It took a month before any of the body shops had time to get to me. So one more week with a rental car and then I will hopefully have my pretty car back to me as good as new.
And all evidence of my broken car and broken ability to function as a real adult will be completely erased. I won't lie, I'm looking forward to it.
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And in these tough times, special thanks to...
Some notes:
Mom and I have since resolved our differences in opinion on how to appropriately respond to uncontrollable life stressiness.
I have also changed my opinion on parking at work...and now race the clock to get there on time with the added pressure of parking in the garage.
Maybe I'll be a real adult one day after all.
Here were the facts -
- 6:30pm and still at work
- No covered parking (by choice...)
- Summer storm, another one. Not just rain this time. Hail. Lots and lots of hail. Crap.
- Conflicted: Run through giant spiky ice balls falling from the sky to try and find covered parking? Or just stay put and hope for the best?
- I stayed put.
Not JUST a broken sunroof, it was shattered and only a few moments before most of it came falling down. So that. Plus, I am a genius and had left the sunroof shade open inside. Which meant shattered glass and wet leather. Neat.
It really was the perfect storm of sorts -
- Should have left work at 6ish, I wasn't doing anything terribly important for 6:30pm. Would have beat the storm home. Where no cars were damaged.
- I had opted out of garage parking because a) I am always late, the garage adds time, the lot is quick. And b) I am terrible at parking in small spaces.
- Sunroof shade open. Glass, water, wet leather. Awesome.
- It was 7pm, no one to call at the insurance or the Honda service department.
- I am new to owning things. And completely overwhelmed by the whole situation.
Can you blame me though? I had no idea what to do when your car is broken by falling ice! No idea who to call, what the next steps are, or how to fix it.
Please allow me to preface this story...I am normally a completely rational, completely calm, solution-oriented gal. My natural first thoughts were...
This is fine. I can handle this. I'll just get enough of this glass out of my seat to drive home. It's all going to be fine.My first call was to Mom, who clearly was in no position to help her on-the-verge-of-breakdown daughter. This wasn't a big deal. The glass was safety glass, it wouldn't cut me. Just drive home and call the insurance company. Easy enough. Except the glass did cut. And who the hell knows what to say to the insurance company? Who is closed at 7:30pm? I think that's when I
Next call was to roommate Lindsey. Who I knew was in yoga class and wasn't surprised when she didn't answer. Next call to Jessyca, who I was supposed to be meeting for dinner. Don't expect me.
Fail. Upon realizing that I needed help (not only to get home, but also to figure out what to do next), that's when I lost it. And cried. Lots for the next few hours.
Next call was to Kristen, who lives just about 5 minutes away...
Kristen: Hey! I was just wondering about you and if you survived the hail storm. It was really bad by your office!
LJ (clearly a mess): Umm, are you busy right now?
Kristen: No...
LJ: Do you think you can come get me at work?
Kristen: I...yes...I can...are you ok?
LJ: No...
Kristen: On my way!
LJ (upon realizing that might have been a bit dramatic): Wait! Can you bring a towel? And maybe some tape?
Kristen: Towel? Tape? (clearly confused, but of course still peppy) Sure, yes! Be right there!Side note: A sign of a true friend right there. No questions asked. Just on her way.
Kristen and her roommate Becky talked me out of a mild panic attack. Helped clean up the water and enough glass out of the drivers seat to get me home. Slowly and carefully. The rest of the night was spent trying to figure out who I needed to talk to, what I needed to do, how I was going to get to work for my 8am client presentation the next morning, and trying to hold it all together.
At 11pm I finally got off the phone with the insurance company. I can't remember any of the decisions I made in that conversation and I certainly didn't know if those were the right decisions. All I remember is that this wasn't going to be an easy fix. And it was going to take a week to even get someone to look at my car, much less fix the sunroof so that I could drive it. Was that right? Surely no, surely there was something they weren't telling me? A quicker solution?
Sigh. Overwhelming sigh.
Reminder, I am not typically an over-emotional kinda girl. I'm more of the "this is fine, it will all be fine!" mentality. However. This is my car. That I own. (or sorta own?) It has been mine for less than a year. I try to take really good care of it. I'm new to this after all! And now after semi-uncontrollable events, it was broken. And there were all these steps that I needed to take to fix it, but NO ONE COULD TELL ME WHAT THOSE STEPS WERE.
Aren't these big kid life things supposed to be easier to deal with when you live near your parents? Apparently not the case.
My ohsocaring mother had a few gems of wisdom to share...most that I will not repeat here because it seemed as if the more she talked, the worse I felt about things. But among those gems, this was one she ended on...
Well, just think! This will all make a really good blog post!Too soon, Mom.
Much. Too. Soon.
Rachel picked me up very early to take me to work the next morning. Thankfully.
"Good morning, Princess." she says.
"Good morning, chauffeur." I answer, in considerably better spirits than the night before.
My insurance agent, Larry, kindly called me back in response to the distress message I left on his voicemail the night before. Apparently Dad spoke to him and asked that he call his hyper-sensitive daughter and talk her down from the edge. Dad to the rescue.
"Lauren, this is all going to be fine. Let me give you a number to call. These guys will come to you and fix your sunroof. And we'll cover the cost automatically. Then do this and this and this...."Thanks, Larry. That's really all I needed to hear. What to do, who to call and to know that my insurance will pay for it. Geeez. Where were you last night when I was having a massive breakdown?!
After driving to Plano for a rental car. (or making Mom drive me to Plano...) Apparently rental cars were on high demand in Dallas. Number 85 on the waiting list wasn't going to cut it. I ended up getting my sunroof replaced the next week - with a careful drive down I-75 and a few hours with other victims of the storm. And a pop-up claims office took 2 hours to tell me that there was another $3000 in exterior damage. Also neat.
Hey. Remember when I wanted to move to Texas? And have a big kid life? And own things? I take it all back. All of it. This NEVER would have happened in New York!
Finally, this week my lil Honda is in the shop getting all the dents removed. It took a month before any of the body shops had time to get to me. So one more week with a rental car and then I will hopefully have my pretty car back to me as good as new.
And all evidence of my broken car and broken ability to function as a real adult will be completely erased. I won't lie, I'm looking forward to it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And in these tough times, special thanks to...
Kristen for coming to the rescue. Offering solutions, calming me down and driving me around.
Rachel for letting me cry and driving me to work.
Ditto the above for roommate Lindsey.
Les for answering my midnight angry-cry phone call.
Dad for realizing there was something he could do to help. And calling to check on me.
Mom for...calling me out on overreacting? For being supportive? No? Ok. Fine. Then for listening to me cry and for driving me around. And contributing to this entirely-too-long bloggy post. :)
Some notes:
Mom and I have since resolved our differences in opinion on how to appropriately respond to uncontrollable life stressiness.
I have also changed my opinion on parking at work...and now race the clock to get there on time with the added pressure of parking in the garage.
Maybe I'll be a real adult one day after all.
I adore this post. I adore your honesty, and adore you. You are right, none of these things would happen in NY, but you know what... your chances of getting hit by a bus or a subway car drastically reduce living in Dallas! And for almost a year you have gotten to drive in that air conditioned, radio blasting country music comfortable car while my sweaty red face sticky mess of a human has been on the subway next to smelly un-showered masses. So look at the bright side darling and never ever apologize for the difficulties of being an adult. It can really stink.
ReplyDeleteBahaha, thanks Linds. A lil perspective goes a long way! I don't miss those subways in the summertime. I really don't miss that humidity. And I'm real glad I don't fear for my life in taxi's anymore.
DeleteAnd being an adult...I suppose that can be pretty icky sometimes in all cities. :)
LOVE!