The day after Thanksgiving, lovingly known by shoppers as Black Friday, is my kind of day. For someone who loves bargains and great deals as much as I do, Black Friday is full of excitement and adrenaline. First the mad rush through the store, racing towards your coveted item as hundreds of people around you do the same. Then the thrill of checking items off your list (which was carefully prepared the night before after pouring over the ads for hours) as you find them, still on the shelves (this is big, because many times, you will be too late). The satisfaction of finding the perfect gift for someone, and giving yourself a gift too....the gift of saving money. Black Fridays of years past have always treated me well, so I couldn't understand this year why I was so dreading going. I kept telling Matthew things like "I am just not looking forward to it this year" or "I don't know why, but I am really not excited about going on Friday". Even the night before I debated over and over whether or not I should even go, as we had scored quite a few good deals online already. But, tradition is tradition and I rose with the alarm clock at 3am on Friday, and headed out shortly before 4am to Washington Square, home of my first stop.
And just like years past, my day was full of excitement and adrenaline. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same kind I was used to, and there was absolutely no good deals being had. Just as I passed through a major intersection 2 blocks short of the mall, traffic came to a stop, and as I was sitting there stopped and waiting for traffic to move along, I chanced a look in my rear view mirror. It was dark, so all I saw were headlights approaching quickly behind me and I had just a fraction of a second to register the thought "Oh shit, she isn't going to stop" before I was plowed into. I don't know how fast she was going - it wasn't fast enough to set off my airbag, but it was fast enough to slam me into the car in front of me. Which actually may be why the airbag didn't go off, because the back of my car absorbed so much of the crash, and airbags are only meant to go off when the front of the car hits something at a high rate of impact. Either way, there I was, sandwiched between two cars and totally stunned. My neck immediately exploded with pain, I think because I was looking up when I saw her coming and had just enough time to tense my whole body. The woman in front of me came storming out of her car yelling "Unbelievable" and it was all I could do to mutter "She hit ME" and gesture to the woman behind me. Luckily we were right next to a gas station, so we all pulled in there and began the exchange of information. The woman who hit me got out of her car, and started spouting off about someone rear ending her and driving off, but a later look at her back bumper revealed that unless the person had been driving a marshmallow, she clearly hadn't been hit. I called the police, but they didn't come out because nobody needed an ambulance, and we weren't blocking traffic. After we exchanged insurance information, I ran into the gas station to buy a camera and take some pictures, mostly because I was worried about her trying to change her story around. These are the pictures I took, they aren't to bad for a cheap disposable camera!
The back of my car, it doesnt appear to have much damage, just a deep puncture right in the middle, and a nice imprint of her licence plate to the right:
The front got the worst of it, but from a distance, it really doesnt look all that bad:
Up close you can see more of the damage. The grill in front was smashed and pushed back into the engine block, and the white part that holds the light in to the left of the grill was cracked and broken:
My poor light was hanging by wires, you can see how my hood is all messed up in this picture too:
After the other women left, I sat in the parking lot and called my insurance, and filed a claim with company that the woman who hit me had insurance with. About an hour after the crash, and 30 minutes into the phone call, I suddenly burst out in tears and could not stop crying. I think the adrenaline had finally wore off and the reality of the situation hit me. I was feeling SO very lucky that the crash wasn't worse, that I was able to drive my car and that nobody had been seriously injured. Those were things that I was really grateful for, but at the same time, I was dealing with the shock of being rear ended, and the pain in my neck and back that was rapidly spreading to my shoulders, arms, ribs and hips. I was worried about my car, worried about insurance, worried about what was going to happen, and all of a sudden, I was totally and thoroughly exhausted.
I finished with insurance, and wanted to drive straight home, but I knew I needed to fix my light before I could. The gas station didn't have sell or have any tape, so I had to drive to Target to get some, because it was the only place I knew around there that would be open at 5am. It was the last place I wanted to be, and suddenly standing in line for an hour to checkout didn't seem like so much fun, especially when I wasn't there to score great deals. About 6am, 2 hours after the crash, I finally got checked out, got my light taped back up, and headed home. I was so glad when I finally got there! My morning definitely didn't turn out like I planned it too, and I have no idea what is going to happen from this point out, but I am thankful to be home with my family and that's all that matters to me right now.
And just like years past, my day was full of excitement and adrenaline. Unfortunately, it wasn't the same kind I was used to, and there was absolutely no good deals being had. Just as I passed through a major intersection 2 blocks short of the mall, traffic came to a stop, and as I was sitting there stopped and waiting for traffic to move along, I chanced a look in my rear view mirror. It was dark, so all I saw were headlights approaching quickly behind me and I had just a fraction of a second to register the thought "Oh shit, she isn't going to stop" before I was plowed into. I don't know how fast she was going - it wasn't fast enough to set off my airbag, but it was fast enough to slam me into the car in front of me. Which actually may be why the airbag didn't go off, because the back of my car absorbed so much of the crash, and airbags are only meant to go off when the front of the car hits something at a high rate of impact. Either way, there I was, sandwiched between two cars and totally stunned. My neck immediately exploded with pain, I think because I was looking up when I saw her coming and had just enough time to tense my whole body. The woman in front of me came storming out of her car yelling "Unbelievable" and it was all I could do to mutter "She hit ME" and gesture to the woman behind me. Luckily we were right next to a gas station, so we all pulled in there and began the exchange of information. The woman who hit me got out of her car, and started spouting off about someone rear ending her and driving off, but a later look at her back bumper revealed that unless the person had been driving a marshmallow, she clearly hadn't been hit. I called the police, but they didn't come out because nobody needed an ambulance, and we weren't blocking traffic. After we exchanged insurance information, I ran into the gas station to buy a camera and take some pictures, mostly because I was worried about her trying to change her story around. These are the pictures I took, they aren't to bad for a cheap disposable camera!
The back of my car, it doesnt appear to have much damage, just a deep puncture right in the middle, and a nice imprint of her licence plate to the right:
The front got the worst of it, but from a distance, it really doesnt look all that bad:
Up close you can see more of the damage. The grill in front was smashed and pushed back into the engine block, and the white part that holds the light in to the left of the grill was cracked and broken:
My poor light was hanging by wires, you can see how my hood is all messed up in this picture too:
After the other women left, I sat in the parking lot and called my insurance, and filed a claim with company that the woman who hit me had insurance with. About an hour after the crash, and 30 minutes into the phone call, I suddenly burst out in tears and could not stop crying. I think the adrenaline had finally wore off and the reality of the situation hit me. I was feeling SO very lucky that the crash wasn't worse, that I was able to drive my car and that nobody had been seriously injured. Those were things that I was really grateful for, but at the same time, I was dealing with the shock of being rear ended, and the pain in my neck and back that was rapidly spreading to my shoulders, arms, ribs and hips. I was worried about my car, worried about insurance, worried about what was going to happen, and all of a sudden, I was totally and thoroughly exhausted.
I finished with insurance, and wanted to drive straight home, but I knew I needed to fix my light before I could. The gas station didn't have sell or have any tape, so I had to drive to Target to get some, because it was the only place I knew around there that would be open at 5am. It was the last place I wanted to be, and suddenly standing in line for an hour to checkout didn't seem like so much fun, especially when I wasn't there to score great deals. About 6am, 2 hours after the crash, I finally got checked out, got my light taped back up, and headed home. I was so glad when I finally got there! My morning definitely didn't turn out like I planned it too, and I have no idea what is going to happen from this point out, but I am thankful to be home with my family and that's all that matters to me right now.