this is the model, but picture it 30 years old, trashed and thrashed
Today I drove the big black Tundra to Costco to buy a chair for the office. As I waited for a parking place, I noticed another one and took it.
Should have waited.
As Seth and I walked across the parking lot I noticed this hideous large van with a camper shell that looked as if it had been parked down by the river for 3o years. I was prompted to take a picture and send it to Talee–let her know I found the van for her to live in. But, I felt funny taking a picture, what if the owner came out and saw me. It was parked not directly behind my truck, but diagonally from it.
We went in to Costco, sat in a few chairs, chose the one we wanted, hefted it into a cart and checked out.
When we came out, as we approached our truck I noticed a big huge dent and scrape on the rear quarter panel. I looked it over, and then checked the front window .
No note.
I was very disappointed.
I should have taken that other parking place.
I should have gone to get those tacos first.
I should have stayed home and not bought the chair.
Now this would cost $500–my deductible. What kind of people do that kind of thing? I thought maybe a delivery van, as the damage was too high for a car. The dent was too big not to notice or hear metal on metal.
I drove home feeling guilty I went to buy a chair, and feeling not so hungry for my tacos anymore.
That afternoon as I was editing my last blog, I came across the sentence about the van down by the river, and then I remembered that trashed, thrashed van parked in Costco. Then it hit me, that was the guy that backed into my truck leaving a huge dent. I can see it now. How it happened. But what I don’t see is how no one left a note. Why didn’t I take that photo?
What kind of people do this?
People who live in a van down by the river. These are not my people. I am not moving to a van down by the river. After all that is just a family joke, but no joke about this big fat ugly dent.
As I was lamenting, I read the news article about a young girl who had been kidnapped and just now walked into a sherriffs department in the Sacramento area–18 years later. Seems she was grabbed two blocks from home, on her way to the bus stop, with her dad watching from his driveway.
Now that is terrible. Horrible.
My dent is a small something.
As Woody Allen said “Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable. The horrible are the cancer patients and the terminal cases… the miserable is everyone else. So, be thankful that you’re miserable.”
The world in which we live is dangerous and often terrible things happen. If I did not believe that this is my probation, that there is much more–more before I came to this earth and more after I leave it–I would have a hard time. I would be very disappointed. I would not understand. I would be miserable.
Nibley talks about the terrible questions. What happens to us after this life? Is this it?
This is a probationary period here in hell. We live among the good and the bad. We are being tested and tried and hell is the perfect place to take our exams.
It is the little things that add up–like leaving a note on a car you backed into, taking responsibility and being honest. Being kind. It all adds up for us to see ourselves as we are. I’ve read that those that have life after death experiences relate that you see your entire life played before you–
What kind of a person am I and what kind of life do I qualify for in the next sphere?
I know, you can’t judge a person by the car or piece of junk they drive–it’s their actions.
Post note:
All the cars on my insurance policy have now been a bit hit. Hyrum had a hit and run, Gene was backed into while he was still in the car so she could not run–but she still tried to deny it, I was rear ended at a stop light, and one of my family members backed into a pole. Only one has been to the repair shop. We have doctored the rest. But, this one needs to be repaired.
