Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I think I can, I think I can (break the curse that is)

The curse is that ever since I have started driving I seem to get into an accident every 5 years. I've only been driving for 15 years but it started the first year I was driving at 16. I rear ended a car. And it wasn't even my car I was driving. The person who's car I was driving just happened to be pulling into the jiffy lube to get his other cars oil changed, which was where I was waiting for the police to come and investigate the accident and ultimately find me at fault and write me a ticket. Talk about bad luck, I hadn't even had time to come up with a good excuse, luckily he went easy on me (the owner of the car, not the cop). So it was definitely my fault, but I can sort of blame the kids (of the owner of the car) in the back seat, because they were yelling inappropriate things out the window at pedestrians and I was trying to make them stop, and that's when I lost my concentration and hit the car in front of me.

Then 5 years later when I was 21, driving my new 1998 Honda Civic (my first new car) that I'd only had for 4 months, I was making a left hand turn and managed to get hit by 2 cars, one on each side. Again technically my fault, but not really because a car had waived me on, so I thought it was clear to go.

Then when I was 26 and moving out to Michigan from Seattle. A 3 day driving trip, and on the last day, my sister and I separated from my parents who were driving the U Haul. They didn't want to drive through Chicago during rush hour traffic, so they went a different route. I decided that being the experienced driver that I was, after living in Seattle for 7 years, one of the worst traffic cities in America, that I could drive through Chicago just fine. So we went our separate ways. Meanwhile, my sister Natalie and I stopped at a gas station in Wisconsin to fill up and walk Brewster, we saw a family playing at the picnic area with the cutest little puppy. We went to see it and they said it was a pure bred miniature American Eskimo puppy and we could have it for only $50 if we wanted it. I wanted it really bad, but knew I couldn't keep it, so I called my sister Rachael who is as much a sucker for a puppy as I am, and she agreed to keep the dog. So back in the car and on the road again with 2 dogs soon became an issue because they didn't like each other. Natalie had Brewster on her lap, and I had (now named) Lola on my lap. (We wanted to name her Brie after a cheese, since she was from Wisconsin, but my sister Rachael picked Lola instead.) Anyway, while we were stuck in stop and go traffic in Chicago during rush hour, I was hand feeding Lola some dog food and looked down for 2 seconds and in that 2 seconds the car in front of me hit the brakes and I did not. I hit her full force without even hitting the brakes. Luckily we weren't going very fast at all, but Brewster almost flew out the window, thankfully Natalie was paying better attention than I was and was able to hold on to him. Long story short, my parents had to turn around and come back into Chicago to get us, since my car was no longer drivable, and the $50 puppy ended up costing me a whole lot more. So it was Lola's fault we got into an accident.
This is Lola. She now lives with my mom (the one who thought it was a stupid idea to get her in the first place) in New York. Rachael decided she couldn't handle 3 dogs.


So now that I'm 31, I can't help but think about the curse and hopefully break it. I have to drive super careful for the next year. Wish me luck!

7 comments:

Rachael said...

Remember (how could you forget) when I backed into your then fiance's car while going to get extra lids for the tomatoes we were canning? Those were some expensive tomatoes!

Good luck with that curse.

Cecelia said...

Yesterday, we were just trying to figure out how old Lola is. So, she's five years old!! I still remember that drive from Seattle to Michigan. I'll describe it as very ... very ... long. My suggestion for not having an accident - don't try to find Anthony's pacificer in the floor while you're driving.

Moneek said...

yikes. good luck.. :)

Tina in CT said...

The superstition is that bad things happen in 3's and you've had your 3 car accidents so you're done.

Ellen said...

Good luck! I think Tina in Ct is right, though -- surely your curse has been broken by now ;)

Francie said...

funny story...
at least you know that none of the accidents were YOUR fault!

Natalie said...

One tiny correction, Brewster DID fly out the window, but he landed on the side view mirror (the window was open), which bought me enough time to grab him and hang on by his collar until the car came to a stop. Can you imagine what the people in the car next to us thought when they saw him hanging out the window by his neck? I try not to be superstitious because deep down I know it's not real, yet at the same time when all the superstitious signs are there, I can't help but make note of them and hope they go away.