So I hit a car today....

....um. Yeah. Did that. I didn't want to, obviously; it's not something I'd go around doing for fun. It really wasn't. See, I was driving home this morning and I was going through a small village and a narrowed part of the street and two cars in front of me had to slow down because of the oncoming traffic and it's all a bit blurry now, but I kind of slowed down, too, but I got closer and closer to the now standing car right in front of me and when I realized that I wasn't going to get to a halt in time, I tried to hit the brakes but I guess I must've not done my driving instructor's lesson on emergency braking proud, since I, well, I hit that car instead.

 There wasn't a very loud sound, no airbags, no bruises (Thank God), so I flatly sang the last lines of "Driveway" by Miley Cyrus (yeah, that was playing that moment and yes, I realize the irony), but my hopes that I could just roll back and we'd all happily go on with our lives were shattered when the driver in front of me got out of his car, accompanied by a honking concert (people behind me weren't pleased - I was sorta blocking everyone's way). Suddenly a bit shaken, I turned off the engine (and the music), threw my keys somewhere, jumped out on the street and looked at the middle-aged man like a rabbit looks at headlights. "You hit me", he said to me. Duh, kinda noticed that, too. "I'm sorry", I said, flustered. I took a quick look at his car, and there wasn't much to see, actually. Just some damaged paint. So I didn't get too hysteric. I like to think I handled the situation quite calmly.

Up until the guy, who was seriously pretty calm for someone who just got hit by a sunglasses-wearing teenage girl in last night's clothes that doesn't have a clue what to do (I'm sure I would've been annoyed with myself), suggested we call the cops. That's when I took out my phone, started to dial, and, at the thought of talking to the police while being the offender, lost it. I'm not proud of it, but my shocked system toyed with the idea of a little hyperventilation for a bit before reevaluating and calling for a classic bursting-into-tears instead. The poor driver mumbled something about it being "not a big deal, no reason to cry" and kindly taking the phone from me to do the deeds himself.

If you've been here a bit longer you'll know that my experience with learning how to drive wasn't the smoothest one. But after finally getting my license two and a half years ago, I really settled into driving - I've come to like it, at least when the sun is out and I'm going somewhere fun. I was pleased with myself for never grazing other cars while parking, or scratching mine on bushes, or losing the rearview mirror. And this car, the shiny red one I'm driving right now, I just got it in January. After the cops had been called, I nervously searched for damages on it, but it's nothing much except the license plate is a little crumbled on the edge. Relieved, I called my parents and told them what happened, even though I couldn't recall it all that well (I'm dramatic, aren't I? Other people don't make this big of a deal out of rear-end collisions, do they? Oh well. Sue me.).

Then I felt sorry for my own car, the other guy's car, and myself because I messed my perfect no-accidents streak up in an unnecessary way ( I could, probably, have gone a bit slower a bit faster) and started crying again, blurting out "I never hit something before" as if that was of any interest here. The other driver was a sweetheart, really, saying "It's not that bad. No one was hurt, it's all gonna be fine" over and over. So did the police officer that arrived soon. You'll be pleased to hear that his own kids have done much more damage to cars already and they're younger than me. It might also interest you that these kind of accidents happen all the time, maybe not so much on Sundays (I don't know why, but that seemed to be funny to him), and that I'm not going to get a record or anything, like I feared for a split second when my form was filled out, and I almost cried again, but pulled myself together (a true example of self-composure, I am). We had to wait for my parents for a bit and the cop told me to "Get some sun while waiting", like it was the perfect opportunity to work on my tan (he was being nice, obviously, and there's no wrong in getting something good out of every situation, after all). Everyone chatted about the smallness of the damage and the fact that "no one's dead or anything" for a while (the cop even joked about me wanting to try out hitting cars as I'd never done that before, and my mom didn't hear it and asked "what?" but I thought she'd probably wouldn't find that funny so I didn't bother repeating it to her) and then we went home.

So I guess it was a trifle, and it is definitely a good thing no one was actually hurt. I'll be braking like crazy from now on, though. I'm not always gonna be on my parent's insurance, after all.

Drive safe, lovelies!

Love,

Rosy Smith