"Uh-Oh, it's Friday the 13th"

You already know that bad luck can happen on any day. About an hour before I was to pick up my rental car, I realized it was Friday the 13th. I thought, uh oh, hope nothing bad happens.

3p.m. Pick up rental car. White Chevy Cobalt, 2008. I tell the rental clerk how beautiful it is and ask if it is an '08 or an '09. They do their "walkaround" to check for scratches.

5 p.m. Hair cut. Looks smashing. Feel beautiful!

5:45 p.m. driving south on york road, feeling relaxed enjoying the radio and thinking how great it is to be behind the wheel again.

6 p.m. CRASH!

I've just been hit. I get whiplashed yet again. Ouch, the sharp pressure of the seat belt into my chest was painful. I check my face to see if my glasses are still there. They are. I don't even get out of the car. I'm terrified. Oh my god, this is going to come out of my bank account even though it wasn't my fault. Oh my god, I'm going to have to give up the car.

Driver behind me (we'll call her "driver 1") walks up to me and says: "I'm sorry!" (you know you are never supposed to admit fault in an accident)

E-"You just ruined my weekend. I'm on disability, Not only do I have to relinquish this car, but the company is going to make me pay for the damages that were your fault!" (I'm not yelling, just speaking my mind)

Driver 1- "Been having brake trouble for a long time!"

E-"If you knew you were having brake trouble, then why are you on the road?"

Driver 1-"Well, I don't feel like getting into all of that"

E-"You need to get me your cell phone, I'm required to call the rental company"

Driver 1-"I don't know if I have a cell phone with me, I'll go check." Walks back to her car, comes back to me. "I don't have a cell phone"

Driver 2/Andrea- (She is in the car infront of me, hmmm, she must be a witness. Why has she stopped her car? Why is she walking towards me? I wonder)

E-"So why are you stopped? You're a witness?"

Andrea-"You hit me"

E-"You've been hit?" I didn't know that. (apparently this happned when my body was in the midst of being whiplashed, so initially i didn't realize my car pushed into her car after driver 1 hit me) "Driver 1 hit me, and evidently pushed my car into your car"

E-"I guess we have to do all of this information exchanging now. (I make 3 attempts to make an outgoing call using A.'s cell phone but I have no luck getting it to work. It's such a complex cell, that I have to have her help me. We don't succeed)

She gives me her name. I said "Oh my god, you're the editor of the new newspaper!"

A-Smiles. YES! Who are you? (she's very warm and friendly)

E-"I'm a reader of the paper, and a writer" "last night at midnight, i was reading your paper and thought, wow, the new editor sure does have a fitting last name for the job she holds........so i made a mental note of your name! Just last night, mind you!"

We all exchange info. which takes quite a while. I told the officer that I need him to call the rental company for me and tell them I've been in an accident, as we have no working cell phones here.

Officer-"That's your responsibility, to call them!"

(what a jerk!)

E-Yes, it is my responsibility, and I can't do it because i don't have a cell phone" (you f-ing moron)

Officer-"no, you don't need to tell them right away, just tell them when you return the car."

Driver 1 tells me that "You'll have to do all of the writing of the policy #'s because I can't see"

E-"You can't see?!" "Why are you driving if you can't see?!"

Driver 1 - "I don't have my reading glasses with me!"

Driver 1 tells the officer: "Officer, i've been having brake trouble for a long time! I just lost my brakes!"

Officer-"That's o.k. maam!"

me thinking-THAT'S O.K.?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? NO, IT'S NOT O.K. YOU IDIOT, WHY ARE YOU APPEASING HER?

the long and the short of it is that hopefully my insurance will cover this accident. we all exchanged information, and I had one last thing for Andrea.

E-"You're going to need one more bit of information, Andrea!"

A-"What's that?"

E-"My website, I blog on day to day in urban poverty!"

A-"Great, I look forward to reading that"

Ironically, on 6/12, I was engraving her name in my mind, (after seeing the paper) and on the 13th, her license plate literally engraved itself on the front bumper of my rental car!

Well, I wasn't hurt, and I did, indeed, have a better day then Tim Russert did. Wouldn't you say?