Friday, January 7, 2011

Harrowing morning

I need to vent.  SCRE-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-e-a-MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!  Read that loud, strident, angry and angst filled, please. 

We had a total wimp of a snowstorm come through this morning - only about 2 inches, but total nuisance because it came from 6:30 - 9 am, totally F-ing up rush hour and turning the roads into nasty brown slushy slippery swampy messes.  I gingerly pulled into a Swiss Farm Store Drive thru on my way to work to get some 1% cottage cheese for my breakfast protein.  I pulled behind the car that was already being waited on, put my car in park, and then set to getting my wallet from my purse.  Next thing I know, a very unattractive angry woman is standing at my door claiming I hit her car from behind and pushed her forward ("I felt forward momentum").  Now, unless I had a mini-stroke or a moment of unconsciousness, that did not happen.  I felt no impact or even a tiny subtle tap that you occasionally feel when parallel parking and you barely tap the car in front or behind with the rubber bumper as you maneuver.  NOTHING.  The was no touching of her car by my car.  I know I would have sensed it, felt it or something.

I was shocked and assured her I did not even tap her car, let alone touch it enough to push her forward.  She started shrieking at me and asked for my insurance info.  I was stunned and flabbergasted.  I told her I'd give her my info but that I did not hit her car at all and would tell my insurance company that.  She stormed up to the Swiss Farm workers and said to them, "YOU'RE MY WITNESSES!", to which they replied that they weren't witnesses as they neither saw nor heard anything.  They also said there's a security camera in operation, at which point the woman came back to my car and said "You'll change your tune when you find out there's a security camera, HUH?" 

It was totally bizarre - I gave her my info, which she watched me copy from my insurance paper and then insisted she see my license to verify I was who I said I was!  OMG it was awful.  Not to mention that her bumper and mine both look perfectly normal.  I need to stop writing about it because I'm getting myself stirred up and I had finally de-escalated.  I came straight to work and called my insurance company and gave them a full report, including my rage and shock over this crazy woman.  That was the upsetting part - she started out treating me like a criminal and going for my jugular before I even knew what she was mouthing to me from outside my window as I rolled it down in the beginning.

Okay - I feel better venting it again.  I have to let it go because I've done everything I possibly can, and ruminating about it is only going to further affect my day.  You guys know I'll let you know if anything transpires.  My insurance company rep said she may not even call them, but I have a feeling she's going to try something.

And as the perfect punctuation to this story, once I pulled up to the very nice lady at Swiss Farm, shaking like a leaf as I was - the lady handed me a rubber spongey ball and said, "Here's a stress relief ball for you, and would you like a free cup of coffee?  She was nuts!"  That was good, but then it turned out they were totally out of cottage cheese, so that trip was futile anyway.  Oh well - there's no way the rest of the day isn't going to be better.  Thanks for letting me rant. 

I'm doing something major tomorrow morning related to my weight loss intention that I'll write about afterwards.  I'm psyched and excited.  Have a good w/e, and drive CAREFULLY and DEFENSIVELY!!!

28 comments:

  1. Man...I'm so sorry your morning started out like that! That woman sounds nuts. She was probably just trying to get something out of you (there are people out there that pull that kind of crap). I can't believe it!

    Glad that you had that nice lady from Swiss Farm to give you that stress ball.

    Relax. I bet nothing comes from what happened this a.m.!

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  2. Calling all fruitcakes! Good Holy Crap, that sounded darn near scary! Too bad you couldn't have bapped her with the stress ball... Oh, guess that's what they call 'escalation', never mind. Huh. Here's hoping that you find money on the floor or something for reverse Karma...

    Cat

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  3. WOW! Hopefully, the crazy lady doesn't try and pull some shit. Did you ask to get the security camera video? Don't they usually re-use them?

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  4. Actually I called after speaking with the insurance agent to ask if they could have someone review the video to see if anything is evident. They haven't called me back yet. If anything is clear about the incident, the insurance co. can have someone call the person who watches the video as a witness. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

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  5. You know why I believe this? Because it's too bizarre for you to have made it up. Sheesh! I hope your day is getting much much better.

    That storm? It's on it's way here to eff up our evening commute. Bleh.

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  6. Wow, talk about an encounter with crazy. Sorry your day started out so bizarrely...that woman is a nutjob.

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  7. Leslie, I am so sorry you had to go through this. How upsetting! I'd read something this morning in my al anon literature that sort of addressed this and I was trying to find the readings online, but couldn't. Basically the gist was if you hadn't done anything wrong, just do your best to let it go. It will work out. That's why we have insurance companies. Let them do the work on this. That's why we have insurance.

    Now take three deep breaths!

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  8. Yikes! What a crazy woman! Sounds like someone looking to capitalize on the snow/ice to cash in. The video tape will help you, but it may take a little while to get an answer, and she'll be all over your insurance company in the meantime.

    What I would do: write down exactly what happened - time, date, descriptions of people around that you remember, what the employees said about not seeing anything, etc. Basically, your blog entry, but with descriptive/identifying information. Make two copies, sign and date, mail one to yourself (which you don't open) and one to your insuranc company.

    Then stop worrying about it. :) You will drive yourself nuts, because she was obviously insane and will try to stir things up with insurance. That's what you pay them for. They will have you give a recorded statement (by phone) if they haven't already. And then try to put it all out of your mind so it doesn't bring you down!!

    Good luck. Sorry you had such an awful and bizarre experience. :(

    Related note: when my oldest was an infant, I got rear-ended at a red light. I did have damage to my car, but mostly I was a young mom freaking out about my infant being in a car accident. :( She had been sleeping and woke up SCREAMING! The man who hit me: executive-type, 50s, nice car, saw how spun out I was and I think he envisioned me being a gold-digger. He said he was moving his car to the side of the road - and he took off!!

    My insurance company was totally cool - my daughter wasn't hurt, they repaired my car and classified him as a "ghost driver" (not quite a hit and run, but not my fault accident, either). Bizarre! I have always thought of that man as an example of sleazy selfish man, driving off and leaving all the damage behind that he caused. People are S-T-R-A-N-G-E.

    Feel free to delete this comment. :) I'm rambling with my own history, but the crazy-driver story brought mine to mind, haha.

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  10. Duplicate post, sorry! I thought the internet ate my first one. :)

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  11. Wowza!!! I'd say you need to make sure the don't record over those tapes in a loop. (You can learn a lot by watching TV!)

    Can't wait for the big news:)

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  12. How awful! That woman is off her rocker. So sorry that happened to you. I hope nothing comes of it. What a psycho.

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  13. Sounds like a scam and a crazy person collided. Yikers. No damage no payout. She will go away. Nutter butter. Hope your BP has gone down, poor gal!

    Polar's Mom
    www.polarspage.blogspot.com

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  14. Talk about Deep Breath's time. So many looney's not enough roads for us normal people. Sorry this happened but I do look forward to seeing your post about new and exciting stuff.

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  15. Yikes!! It's so unsettling when stuff like that happens!! You handled it just fine...and venting and telling the story helps to let it go. :-)

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  16. So sorry this happened Leslie! She was nuts! Hope everything turns out okay for you.

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  17. did you get copy of video before it is taped over? picture of the back end of her car? license plate/make model so she doesn't switch cars on you?

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  18. THANK YOU for your note in my journal!

    I can relate to your harrowing experience! I work at a high school, and one afternoon I came out to my car parked in the staff parking lot, and a student was waiting there, telling me I had hit his car, a new Audi. (Never mind that he should not have been in staff parking anyway. ) I told him I had not, etc. etc. and did the same as you, gave him my insurance info and assured him i would be fighting any claim because I knew I hadn't hit him. When I got home I immediately called the insurance company to tell them what had transpired. Shortly thereafter there was a phone call from the student, which I didn't answer, I was too afraid. But he left a message with an APOLOGY! Through the student grapevine he had figure out who had REALLY hit his car!

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  19. Holy Crap....and there wasn't any cottage cheese?? That really sucks.

    What a nut job. You wrote it all down here in case you need it when you sue her.....lol. Maybe there was some video from the market of her acting like a fool. Insurance fraud is big buisness.

    Hope you are feeling better. Can't wait to see what happens.

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  20. Lord have mercy! Some people! She's more than unattractive on the outside! Her poor children-they probably had to grow up with that their whole life and could wait to get away!!! This woman obviously has a hard time dealing with her emotions (good or bad). That's very sad.

    You've got me on the edge of my seat!!!!

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  21. That's "and wouldn't wait" to get away!

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  22. Darn it! I meant "and COULDN'T WAIT" to get away!"

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  23. Leslie! I can't wait to hear how you feel about Points Plus!!!

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  24. How horrid... :( I wonder if she'd pranged her car elsewhere and was looking for someone to 'blame' for insurance purposes? Lucky for you there WERE security cameras.

    Anyway, Happy New Year! I'm back after some time away, but raring to go again! Look forward to catching up on your earlier posts when I get some spare time...! :)

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  25. Hi Leslie,

    Is it too ironic to say "happy new year" to you?

    Did you ask your insurance company if we have to give our insurance info to anyone who demands it?

    What a whacko!!!!

    I've missed you and your adventures, but this one, you certainly could have done without. Hang in there.

    Genie

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  26. Oh, Leslie! That sounds awful! I'm so sorry. The insurance company will work it out. Yay for the camera! Deb

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  27. It's a good thing I wasn't in the car with you. I would have got out, walked around your car, and politely punched her in the face. :)

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  28. Leslie, I had to read this one after I read the WW entry! I was an adjuster for 18 years and I'll tell you that in the absence of any independent witnesses, physical damage and with your denial of any occurrence, your insurance company should take your statement and then deny the claim. There are fraud rings that stage "accidents" and then sometimes show up with a totally different car to get repaired. Be sure and tell your company what type of car she was in. I guarantee you she'll disappear if they show that they know what they're doing.

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