It's Rainin' Men!

Got in my first collision on my motorcycle yesterday. I'm driving home from the library, and this kid in a light-blue Ford LTD turns in front of me while pulling into the Dollar General. I screamed, and slammed on the brakes. Luckily I wasn't going very fast, so I hit him at a rather low speed. I smacked into his passenger fender and flopped over the handlebars onto his hood. I think he was as freaked out about it as I was.

There he was, minding his own business. Just driving into town for some chips or whatever. All of a sudden some motorcyclist drops out of the sky onto the hood of his car. Has to be pretty disconcerting. Certainly rattled me up. He was asking me if I was okay, and I wasn't sure what planet I was on. Why do people have the need to ask that question? Are you okay? Of course I'm not okay! I've just been in an accident!

So, the cops show up. I was kind of hoping to avoid this, as at that moment I remembered that both my insurance and motorcycle permit had expired. I could tell the cop wasn't thrilled with having to write the guy that just nearly got killed a bunch of tickets. A bit like rubbing salt in the wound. But, as he was writing out the tickets that would have revoked my priveledge of driving anything more substantial than a golf-cart (and even that had better not be on a state thoroughfare) the kid's mother shows up and starts screaming for my blood.

She was royally pissed that I didn't have insurance, and was adamant about me going to jail. This pissed the cop off even more, and he politely told the lady, "If you want to go by the book then we can. I'll write your son a ticket for failure to yield right-of-way, and everyone will be treated fairly." She instantly changed her tune. She starts asking me if I'd be willing to pretend the whole thing never happened. I have to admit that I was fervently hoping for this eventuality, and assured her that I was very good at minding my own business. This made everyone there very happy.

Except me, whom it merely made not unhappy. I still had a maimed bike and wrenched shoulder to contend with. The last thing I wanted was a bunch of hassle from cops and insurance companies. I had bigger fish, so to speak. As it happened, my aunt and uncle were driving by at the time of the accident and stopped to help. They called their son, who showed up within minutes with a trailer to haul the thing back home. After we got there my cousin helped me fix it up a bit. It was really cool of him because at no point did I ask for his help. He just saw that I needed it, and did it without being asked. That's rare treatment, in my experience.

So, I'm bumming rides from relatives until Monday. I get paid then, and I'll be able to buy some insurance. I'll be back on the proverbial "Straight and Narrow" in that respect. It was odd having my life flash before my eyes, because not a whole lot happened. If it was a movie I'd have fallen asleep in the middle. I'll have to work on that, I guess. Insurance first. I was spared The Man's wrath yesterday. I don't want to push my luck.