Crash!

Reporting live from sunny South Florida . . . .

The weather here is amazing today. Nothing but blue skies and sun. Sheer perfection. But I digress . . . .

I was down here for about half an hour when my mom got in a car accident. No, nothing major. She just backed out of a parking spot at exactly the same time as the woman behind her in a giant Lexus SUV -- and then, CRUNCH!

But really, I'm not sure what happened, since I wasn't in the car at the time. You see, my mom doesn't do the airport thing. So no matter what, my dad always picks me up. Usually, that means that we just go straight back to their house, drop off my crap, and then go do whatever -- which, since we're Jewish, usually involves food or shopping.

This trip, however, we had to meet my mom at the strip mall near their house, and then go for lunch. Which meant that, since my stuff was in my dad's car, I opted to ride with him.* So, my dad and I got to miss the scene. We were out of the parking lot, halfway to the lunch restaurant, when my cell phone rang. I looked down at it, saw that it was my mom, and answered. "I was just in an accident," she stated, matter-of-factly.

"Whaaa? Does that mean you want us to drive back?"

"Yeah, since we just called the police."

I hung up, and told my dad. He seemed annoyed. Then again, he's always pissed when something happens involving the cars. Like the time that my brother borrowed his old car for a semester at college and drove it into a truck. Or the time I borrowed his car to go to work and got a flat tire. Or the other time I borrowed his car to go to Miami, and the battery died. Or the time I hit a pole in the parking lot. Or the time that the pregnant lady in the minivan rolled backwards at the stop sign into my car . . . .

Oh yeah, what were we talking about here?

So, we got back to the parking lot, to find my mom and the Lexus lady standing on opposite sides of the lot, with their cars left exactly where they were, blocking others in their spots. The Lexus lady seemed to be in her late 30's or early 40's -- skinny, with a handbag and sunglasses that looked to be designer. Her friend looked about the same. Neither one was all that comfortable taking pictures with their cell phones.

There was no damage to the Lexus. My mom's car has a gash about a foot long in her bumper. Nothing too serious, though.

Both my mom and the Lexus lady seemed angry. Both insisted that it was the other one's fault, and that they were out of the spot first. Now, we know that we left the store right before the Lexus lady -- we saw her there -- and, while waiting for the cops, we heard her say to her friend that she was in a rush. Honestly, though, my mom is no longer the greatest driver, and she can take forever to back out of a parking spot. I do think that the Lexus lady didn't see my mom because her car was up so high. But honestly, I don't think that either of them saw the other.

To a small extent, it looked like my mom was slightly further out of the spot than the Lexus lady because she had straightened out already. But I didn't see it happen, and frankly, I'm not unbiased.

So, anyway, I got to spend the next half hour or so standing out in the very hot Florida midday sun, waiting for the Palm Beach County Sherriff, who told my mom what I knew already -- no independent witnesses, no fault. Just report it to your insurance companies and be done with it.

Now I have a sunburn on my face, and nothing to show for it.


* I have a longstanding policy of "leave with the one you came with." Oh, and I didn't want to hear my mom say anything else about how bad my skin looks.