Morris (my automobile) is officially dead. I am heartbroken and will cope by imagining him frolicking in a field with Tasha and Noel (two beloved dogs of mine who have passed over the years). Note: expect a horribly photoshopped image of this to occur eventually)
Story (warning: this is HORRIBLY long and vastly unnecessary)
The evening of Wednesday, November 25th I was on my way to work. I was at a stop sign at Territorial Rd and Main St in Rogers, turning left. All the cars to my left had their signals on to go right so I proceeded to go through the intersection. However a car did not turn right and hit the side of my vehicle. Morris spun and ended up in
the ditch; driver and back passenger doors smashed in and impossible to open. (image: place where happiness dies)Immediate inspection, my car did not seem terrible. The doors were obviously damaged but it didn’t appear so bad. Mind you this was 6pm at night in late November thus it was pitch black outside. The other car? Obviously totaled. The front end was goooooone. In the midst of the night I was almost proud of Morris for causing such damage and (so I thought) not receiving too much himself.
Ironically (?) there was an ambulance a couple cars behind where I was. They pulled over and got myself and the girl in the other car in the vehicle. Simply spoke to us to make sure there weren’t any injuries. None were to be had so we stayed in there until the police arrived.
After that, it was surprisingly fast. Around three police cars arrived. The girl’s parents arrived first. Said girl was around my age, btw. Her mother freaked out and ran into the middle of the street looking for her girl. Nevermind the policemen shouting at her to get out of the street otherwise she WILL get hit by traffic that was still moving, albeit slowly.
Immediately after the accident I had called my dad who was at home for the night; the mother was at work. Once the police arrived they shuffled us into cars to keep us warm and get our stories for the police report. Because of this, I got to sit in a squad car for the first time. With hopes to lighten the situation, the cop was almost apologetic over the fact I had to sit in the back of the squad car.
Dad arrived, stood around for a very brief while and then we were free to go. We drove to the towing company which was about a mile away to pick up any immediate belongings I needed (credit cards, etc…). Throughout the night he was very supportive. However, the mother? Not so much. I called her and left a message informing her what had transpired. While at the tow company she called me back and proceeded to yell at me. As though the night wasn’t traumatic enough. I had calmed down enough at this point only to get worked up again.
Need I remind you I was on my way to work? The call list after the accident was as follows:
1. Dad
2. Co-worker I was supposed to work with that night
3. Mother
4. Immediate boss
After the tow company my other boss (immediate boss’ boss) called asking how I was. He lives relatively close to me and wondered if I needed a ride. Very sweet and thoughtful of him. However, I don’t think he could have handled the state I was in.
The rest of the night pretty much consisted of me sitting in my room and just staring.
Needless to say, Thanksgiving was more than a tad awkward. The mother was still upset at me and proceeded to give me the silent treatment for a majority of the day.
Following day, she insisted I return to the tow company so she can see first-hand the damage. After inspecting the damage it appeared worse than at nighttime but still not horrible. While inside the tow company’s office she once again began to lay into me. It honestly took the words of the random guy working to calm her down and remind her to “be grateful that your girl had all her limbs and seems to be fine.”
After that? She returned to normal. A complete stranger had to remind her that her daughter was alive and she should be grateful for that.
That day I also had to deal with the exuberant amount of phone calls from insurance agencies and the likes. Retelling the scenario again and again. However we luckily were able to get a rental car that weekend. A PT Loser (cruiser). Gross. Enterprise in Elk River has limited options and none of which fell into the “cars that don’t suck” department.
The time from then to now has sort of blurred together. However, the kindness of my insurance agency vastly changed.
Morris was towed into Abra in Elk River, where he’s always gotten body work. The doors were bent in 4-6 inches so they said the cost to repair would be great. They estimated around $5400. However the engine was fine (nothing in the front got hit) as well as the frame. Good news.Insurance agency didn’t see it that way. Despite the fact Morris is/was work over $7200 they wanted to total
him. Give me around $5600 for the usage of a new car. They were, however, willing to sell him back to me. Usually totaled cars are sold back for under $1000. But because my family took such great care of him they wanted $1300. Plus, the resale value would be all but obsolete as it would have a salvage title to his name. Plus, they didn’t think they’d insure him anymore if anything else were to ever happen to him. Mind you, anything means anything. Natural causes or not. So if Morris was in the middle of a hail storm they would stop insuring him. (right: eff them)Additionally, we have no clue how much our premium is going to go up. No citations were given, which is a bonus. But the other girl technically had the right of way as I had a stop sign. But that should not allow for idiocy.
I argued relentlessly with the parents to fight the agency and get my car back. He was on life support but not completely dead.
However, they did not see it that way and pulled the plug. For the past week or so we’ve been searching all over the greater Twin Cities area for used cars. One day I visited 6 dealerships with my mother. Very tiring work as evident by my transformation into a 5 year old child without a nap around 1pm that day. But we trudged on and continued the search.
Since then I’ve gone a couple more days looking for cars. Over-priced cars, pretty cars, relatively inexpensive cars, rust/hail damage, incredibly nice salesmen and others I couldn’t give a damn about. I’ve seen it all. But I will feel guilty about not purchasing from the various nice salesmen I've encountered.
I said my final goodbyes to Morris today. Gathered all my belongings and had a few quiet moments with my car. A cd was in the cd player that I desperately wanted out (Dawn by Mount Eerie. The soundtrack to my accident and will forever by synonymous with the incident). I actually purchased that cd but my battery
had died as a result of being in the cold for over a week. A kind worker at Abra jumpstarted my car and the two of us chatted. He mentioned how over the years he’s worked on Morris quite a bit and sorry to see him go. But at least it was almost a blaze of glory rather than just dying. It was a nice eulogy of sorts. I think my openly weeping perturbed him a bit. A couple more moments and I turned my back on Morris. He’s gone.Now, we’re down to the final two contenders for Morris 2.0 (although I don’t think I’ll ever call him such).
A replacement Morris. Red 2001 Honda CR-V opposed to my black 1999
This one came out of nowhere but may seriously be my next
car. A 2003 Saab 9-3 Linear.I have a massive list of the pros/cons for each vehicle. I know Hondas and especially what a CR-V is capable of. Yet this new CR-V may have such an appeal because it would simply be my replacing Morris to the best of my ability. I don’t know much about Saabs (practically nothing) but have been assured they are good cars.
I have been unbelievably indifferent to my new car that the parents are becoming frustrated and confused. How could I care so little? Simple. Conversely, they are insisting I make a decision within the next day or so.
Aaaaaaaand….that’s the story.
Morris, you will be missed.
