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WARNING! LONG AND RANTY!!!
Last week, I found myself needing to do a bit of shopping after work. Nothing new, happens a couple times a week usually. I pull into my local WM and see that the parking lot is fairly empty. Yay! I see a block of 3 empty spaces and decide to park in the middle of them, and as I'm pulling into my chosen space I notice a "nice"(read - battered early 90's POS) dodge pickup attempting to park facing my bumper in front of me. When I say "attempting", I mean just that. He's coming in pretty crooked and I think his objective was actually to use the parking spot I was parking in as well, so as to pull right through. Hope that gives you a good idea anyhow. So, I'm finished parking, completely within the space allotted for regular cars. No biggie. Mr. Dodge is still finagling his way into the space, and as I'm walking towards the store, I actually stop about a parking spot or so away and watch a bit as it seems he's VERY close to my car. I don't think too much of it though, because Mr. Dodge shuts off his truck and gets out with his 2 passengers and doesn't say a word. So off into WM I go, grab my groceries, and I get thinking.... that truck was parked pretty close. Maybe I should check it out before I drive away.
This, my friends, is where things go horribly, horribly downhill.
The truck is still there. Parked so damn close to my little black car that I can't even get my hand between them to feel for damage. I open up the car and throw the bags on the passenger seat, start the car up and back up a few inches to be able to see the damage. Upon looking at the bumper I see not a scratch, but a GOUGE out of the bumper, and looking at Mr. Dodge's truck I notice that said gouge is exactly the height and approximate location of this bigass rough looking bolt holding the truck's license plate on the bumper. This gouge is deep enough that I'm worried it's clear through the bumper (note-it does not go all the way through, but at the time it appeared so). I hop back in the car and wait. Think. Text my brother. All the while thinking, “who in their right mind would bump a car, not even check for damage and not say something to the car's owner who was standing right there watching your ridiculous attempt to park?”. 10 minutes go by, I've made my decision to talk to Mr. Dodge about this. Not to be a jerk, not to collect the amount of money that it will inevitably cost me to get this damage repaired, just to let him know that he has indeed bumped into my car, and maybe remind him that parking (especially at this time of year) should be done a little more carefully. All I want in return is an “I'm sorry”, or “Crap, I screwed up”. I realize people make mistakes. I'm not unreasonable. Plus, it's Christmas!
Mr. Dodge finally comes out of WM with his comrades. He sees me getting out of my car and literally rolls his eyes. All I get out is “Sir, I think you may have bumped my car, I just wan....” and he goes off. I don't remember the exact words. Something about needing more space to park. How I was too close to the white parking lines. How I should be more careful. This guy is RAGING. This goes on for what seems like a half an hour, but is most likely only a minute or two. I take out my cellphone and take a VERY clear picture of his license plate, not knowing what I am possibly going to do with this, but not feeling at all right about the confrontation that has just taken place. Mr. Dodge definitely saw me snap this picture.
Fast forward through my shaky drive home. Fast forward through a call to my brother, who advises that I call the police. For what, I wonder? I'm not going to sue the guy, and although my car is slightly damaged, no one was hurt. Then I think about it a little more. How many other parked cars has this asshat bumped into? What does it matter if he needs more room to park? He hit my PARKED CAR.
What if I was a little old lady that wouldn't stand up for herself? A new driver that wouldn't fight back? Damn rights I'm calling the cops.
I call the non emergency number and explain my plight to dispatch. The wonderfully nice lady is calm, understanding and very helpful. She will be forwarding it on to an officer on duty, who will then call me back. Not even 5 minutes later I receive a call from Constable Nice. This poor man asks me what I would like him to do, and honestly, I have no idea LOL. I explain that I don't want to go to court over this, but I feel bullied, and wronged. Const. Nice agrees, and asks if it would be alright with me if he just goes and talks to Mr. Dodge. My other option is having Const. Nice issue tickets for hitting an unattended vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident. Pretty serious, but both of those tickets would result in a court date where I would need to testify. UGH. So yes, Const. Nice, please do talk to Mr. Dodge. He needs to know that this IS serious, and not to be taken lightly. We exchange pleasantries, I thank him, we hang up.
5 minutes later, I get another phone call. This is Const. Nice, and I just need to verify... how many people were in the dodge pickup when they pulled into the WM parking lot again, he asks. Three, I tell him. Mr. Dodge, a female and a younger male. “Okay, I will call you back”, click. I'm confused, but alright.
10 minutes after the last phone call, my phone rings again, and it is Const. Nice again. He apologizes for the last call being so short, but he was trying to figure out what was going on. Seems as though Mr. Dodge answered the door to Const. Nice extremely confrontational. Told him that * I * had hit * HIM * after he parked his truck! Oh, and he was alone.
Mr. Dodge's story went something like this... He pulled into the WM parking lot, AND PARKED before I was even attempting to park my car. He arrived there alone, and was looking in his wallet when he felt my car smack into the front of his truck.
WTF!!!!
Funny thing though... with the attitude that Mr. Dodge gave Const. Nice, and after hearing all of the facts, Const. Nice informed Mr. Dodge that there was not one word of his story that was believable. Mr. Dodge is now on a watch list for any vehicular wrongdoings in the future. He was informed of the tickets that could have been issued, and the fact that a simple “sorry” would have completely diffused the situation, but his attitude nixed that. I have spoken to someone who knows Const. Nice and apparently Mr. Dodge has a bit to be worried about. Const. Nice is known for following people on his “list” for no reason at all, and will seek out such individuals to amuse himself, and those on his shift. This could get interesting. Oh! And the kicker? If Mr. Dodge EVER attempts to make my life miserable? I am to call the RCMP and ask for Const. Nice immediately.
I WIN!
Last week, I found myself needing to do a bit of shopping after work. Nothing new, happens a couple times a week usually. I pull into my local WM and see that the parking lot is fairly empty. Yay! I see a block of 3 empty spaces and decide to park in the middle of them, and as I'm pulling into my chosen space I notice a "nice"(read - battered early 90's POS) dodge pickup attempting to park facing my bumper in front of me. When I say "attempting", I mean just that. He's coming in pretty crooked and I think his objective was actually to use the parking spot I was parking in as well, so as to pull right through. Hope that gives you a good idea anyhow. So, I'm finished parking, completely within the space allotted for regular cars. No biggie. Mr. Dodge is still finagling his way into the space, and as I'm walking towards the store, I actually stop about a parking spot or so away and watch a bit as it seems he's VERY close to my car. I don't think too much of it though, because Mr. Dodge shuts off his truck and gets out with his 2 passengers and doesn't say a word. So off into WM I go, grab my groceries, and I get thinking.... that truck was parked pretty close. Maybe I should check it out before I drive away.
This, my friends, is where things go horribly, horribly downhill.
The truck is still there. Parked so damn close to my little black car that I can't even get my hand between them to feel for damage. I open up the car and throw the bags on the passenger seat, start the car up and back up a few inches to be able to see the damage. Upon looking at the bumper I see not a scratch, but a GOUGE out of the bumper, and looking at Mr. Dodge's truck I notice that said gouge is exactly the height and approximate location of this bigass rough looking bolt holding the truck's license plate on the bumper. This gouge is deep enough that I'm worried it's clear through the bumper (note-it does not go all the way through, but at the time it appeared so). I hop back in the car and wait. Think. Text my brother. All the while thinking, “who in their right mind would bump a car, not even check for damage and not say something to the car's owner who was standing right there watching your ridiculous attempt to park?”. 10 minutes go by, I've made my decision to talk to Mr. Dodge about this. Not to be a jerk, not to collect the amount of money that it will inevitably cost me to get this damage repaired, just to let him know that he has indeed bumped into my car, and maybe remind him that parking (especially at this time of year) should be done a little more carefully. All I want in return is an “I'm sorry”, or “Crap, I screwed up”. I realize people make mistakes. I'm not unreasonable. Plus, it's Christmas!
Mr. Dodge finally comes out of WM with his comrades. He sees me getting out of my car and literally rolls his eyes. All I get out is “Sir, I think you may have bumped my car, I just wan....” and he goes off. I don't remember the exact words. Something about needing more space to park. How I was too close to the white parking lines. How I should be more careful. This guy is RAGING. This goes on for what seems like a half an hour, but is most likely only a minute or two. I take out my cellphone and take a VERY clear picture of his license plate, not knowing what I am possibly going to do with this, but not feeling at all right about the confrontation that has just taken place. Mr. Dodge definitely saw me snap this picture.
Fast forward through my shaky drive home. Fast forward through a call to my brother, who advises that I call the police. For what, I wonder? I'm not going to sue the guy, and although my car is slightly damaged, no one was hurt. Then I think about it a little more. How many other parked cars has this asshat bumped into? What does it matter if he needs more room to park? He hit my PARKED CAR.
What if I was a little old lady that wouldn't stand up for herself? A new driver that wouldn't fight back? Damn rights I'm calling the cops. I call the non emergency number and explain my plight to dispatch. The wonderfully nice lady is calm, understanding and very helpful. She will be forwarding it on to an officer on duty, who will then call me back. Not even 5 minutes later I receive a call from Constable Nice. This poor man asks me what I would like him to do, and honestly, I have no idea LOL. I explain that I don't want to go to court over this, but I feel bullied, and wronged. Const. Nice agrees, and asks if it would be alright with me if he just goes and talks to Mr. Dodge. My other option is having Const. Nice issue tickets for hitting an unattended vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident. Pretty serious, but both of those tickets would result in a court date where I would need to testify. UGH. So yes, Const. Nice, please do talk to Mr. Dodge. He needs to know that this IS serious, and not to be taken lightly. We exchange pleasantries, I thank him, we hang up.
5 minutes later, I get another phone call. This is Const. Nice, and I just need to verify... how many people were in the dodge pickup when they pulled into the WM parking lot again, he asks. Three, I tell him. Mr. Dodge, a female and a younger male. “Okay, I will call you back”, click. I'm confused, but alright.
10 minutes after the last phone call, my phone rings again, and it is Const. Nice again. He apologizes for the last call being so short, but he was trying to figure out what was going on. Seems as though Mr. Dodge answered the door to Const. Nice extremely confrontational. Told him that * I * had hit * HIM * after he parked his truck! Oh, and he was alone.
Mr. Dodge's story went something like this... He pulled into the WM parking lot, AND PARKED before I was even attempting to park my car. He arrived there alone, and was looking in his wallet when he felt my car smack into the front of his truck.
WTF!!!! Funny thing though... with the attitude that Mr. Dodge gave Const. Nice, and after hearing all of the facts, Const. Nice informed Mr. Dodge that there was not one word of his story that was believable. Mr. Dodge is now on a watch list for any vehicular wrongdoings in the future. He was informed of the tickets that could have been issued, and the fact that a simple “sorry” would have completely diffused the situation, but his attitude nixed that. I have spoken to someone who knows Const. Nice and apparently Mr. Dodge has a bit to be worried about. Const. Nice is known for following people on his “list” for no reason at all, and will seek out such individuals to amuse himself, and those on his shift. This could get interesting. Oh! And the kicker? If Mr. Dodge EVER attempts to make my life miserable? I am to call the RCMP and ask for Const. Nice immediately.
I WIN!
I HOPE he looks like Benton Fraser! Never seen the guy before, but I did enjoy talking to him!
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