Is this man too old to drive?
Careful how you answer that!
About one year ago, I was backing out of a diagonal parking
place by the Borrego Springs Post Office when I heard a sharp “bang”. As it happened, a very old lady (“very old” is defined as “probably
older than me”) also was backing out, from the other side of the parking
area. Evidently we touched back fenders. Not knowing what had occurred, she drove
off. However the upshot for me was that
my (terribly flimsy) left back fender was completely dislodged, hanging by only
a few threads. I drove it back to
Bellingham that way, with no problems, and later my grandson-in-law James Weise
fixed it for me. (Alaskans can fix
anything.)
Well, today I was driving east on the main street through
Borrego Springs. On an ordinary day it
is unusual for more than two cars per mile to be using that stretch of road at
any one time. Today there were a few
more. At a certain moment I began a left
turn, then quickly realized that was the wrong place – and turned back. At that moment a very old man in a BRAN NEW shiny
red pick-up attempted to pass me on my right.
(Four days old!). We nicked each
other. My entire right front (flimsy
plastic) fender fell off. His SHINY NEW
RED TRUCK sustained a small dent. He
almost cried when he saw it; said he was afraid to show it to his wife.
Our insurances have been notified and it appears that
neither he nor I will be out any money, although I dread my next insurance
bill. I elected not to file a claim,
saying that I would get it fixed myself.
(I have $500 deductible, in any case.)
Oddly enough, James Weise is due to visit next Tuesday.
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