82. Holy Encounter?

The undersized parking lot at our Trader Joe’s grocery store is not for the faint of heart. The spaces are small and the driveways are narrow. Shoppers exhibit a sort of anxiety about finding a parking space, then getting what they need in the store and exiting quickly. What results for pedestrians and cars may look like a cross between Musical Chairs and the Hunger Games.

It’s no wonder I crunched into a stopped car there a few years ago—he was waiting for a space and I t-boned him as I backed straight into his passenger side door. You know about blind spots that some cars have in the rearview? My entire car is a blind spot. You may also know about that sinking feeling when you glance in the rearview mirror and see a man who looks suddenly as though he’s sitting in your back seat. It’s true: “OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR.”

I was rattled, of course. Nothing like a fender bender to sink your day. My car was fine, but I could see the damage I did to his passenger door, and I reacted quickly to prepare myself mentally for a defensive posture; I imagined an angry confrontation would come next. But it didn’t go that way at all.

I’ll call him Fred. He got out of his car and went immediately to see if I was alright, and he supported my side of the “argument,” saying that the parking lot was to blame, and this sort of thing must happen pretty often. Over and over, he said that I shouldn’t worry, everything would be fine.  Fred then assured me that his oldish car was in no way deserving of expensive body work, and that I shouldn’t worry about him making a claim on my insurance. I said I would pay for repairs out of pocket, and he chuckled and said that he loves to do car repair, he’d fix it himself if he could find a good used door at a salvage yard.  He thought he could find one for for a couple hundred and install it at home. After that, a professional paint job and lock resetting would be at my expense.

I asked if he’d need a rental car in the meantime. But no, he thought the weather would be good for the week, so he assured me that he would be commuting by bicycle. My hat’s off to anyone who enthusiastically bikes to work! It seemed like there was nothing that was going to bother Fred about this incident, and as his calm manner spread over to me, I began to think he was more than just a random nice guy. I drove away feeling very fortunate; back home I told Linda the great news that I had just had a car accident with this really neat guy!

A few days later, Fred called and said he was going out to “Pick a Part” auto wrecking yard. He’d found a good door for his car model. It was pouring rain and blowing up a gale that Saturday—I asked if he needed a ride or a hand, and he assured me it was not a big deal, he didn’t mind the rain and wind, he said he was enjoying himself, and always wanted to test his skill with this kind of auto body work. My hat’s also off to anyone who enthusiastically works on cars, even in the rain!

A week after that, Fred called again and asked if I’d meet him at the collision repair shop. He’d successfully installed the replacement door and the shop was already finished with painting and details, so I went down and wrote him a check for $1500. When it comes to wake-up calls, my encounter with Fred was the gentlest imaginable!

I reached out to shake Fred’s hand, feeling oddly like it was sad to say goodbye. He smiled and agreed when I said, “Despite the circumstances, it was great meeting you.” But I caught myself just before adding, “I hope to run into you again sometime!”