Caused a car accident today
Oct. 13th, 2011 07:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hani_backupI volunteer at a lab at University of Chicago and before the bus system in Hyde Park is ridiculously stupid for the rest of the South of Chicago, I have to leave the house about 2 hours before my be-there time to be safe. I take a bus, a train and another bus and four big block walking (like park-wide and university-building wide blocks). I have to be there by 8:30am so I had to leave the house by 6:30am.
I stayed up pretty late last night, just mooching around online but also taking this online test for this recruiting company in Chicago. (I suck at knowing more than the basics in Word, especially Word 2003, and I suck at ratios/math.) I went to bed maybe aroudn 2am? When I woke up this morning it was 7:30am. I gasped and Matt woke up and when I was panicking he offered to drive me. Later I found out he had turned off my alarm. (I had it set for 5:50am, I believe.)
It was raining then, and still is raining now.
We were on the highway and I changed the address I told him to put in his GPS app on his phone. It was originally 55th & Cottage Grove but that's where the bus drops me off and I have to walk to 59th & Cottage Grove. I told Matt to take an exit 0.7 miles ahead and we were not in the rightmost lane. When trying to merge, he rear-ended the car ahead of us because his head was swiveled to check his blind spot. There was cursing and angry thumping of the steering wheel from him and shocked apologies from me.
We had to get off the exit which took a LONG time and the man he rear-ended followed us. They exchanged information and looked at the damage. Matt's left blinker got smashed and a bit of a fender bender. I didn't look at the other man's car.
Then Matt checked what address I had put in and informed me that, stupidly, I typed *99th* & Cottage Grove instead of *59th* & Cottage Grove. I was what caused us to try and exit so quickly and suddenly without us having to! Matt said he was wondering why it told us to exit so suddenly. (I had told him in the car I had put in 59th instead of 55th so I could save myself the walk in heels.)
Matt drove me to the university. He was very sweet. He said he was angry it happened, angry at me, too. I'm glad he didn't hold back in fear I'd crumble because I find that kind of patrionizing if someone doesn't tell me something because they think I can't handle it. He demanded "Well? Say something!" earlier when we were trying to exit and find a place to park and exchange information. I tend to be really quiet when something happens that's conflict-raising (like that time I got us lost on the trains http://hani.livejournal.com/725425.html ) or when we got lost trying to get to the beach http://hani.livejournal.com/719287.html ) and just shut down and shut up in hopes I don't wrongly say something that will make the other person angrier. Which is bad, especially if it makes the other person feel I'm not paying attention to how they're feeling because I'm not responding to them. But he also said, when he dropped me off, that it happened, that he was also mad at himself and he'll deal with it; expressing it makes it easier for him to get over it.
He also texted me when he got home "Home safe. Got estimate on replacing headlight, and all will be well. Love you." I didn't read it until much later because I had my phone away and silenced but that is very sweet and, well, so un-angry.
When I got back Matt told me that someone who works for me has a husband who works for the Metra here and is also a mechanic. They used his ID to buy the new headlight/blinker part from a wholesaler for much cheaper than they sell single consumers and that he will also attach it for free. It also goes towards paying for their family's bills at Matt's father's office since his father's a doctor. Matt said he thinks he got the shakes out of him an hour or so ago. He said when someone slammed a car door he jumped.
On the way back (bus, train, bus) the first bus almost got in an accident. The braking was rather abrupt and the horn sounded angry. I'm glad the big city bus didn't clip a *person* - I think it was another bus or car it was almost in danger of hitting. I was in the back and couldn't see. At least there wasn't another accident.
I'm paying Matt back $50 for the new headlight, though he won't let me pay full price. He said he has a steadier income than I do, which is true, but still. I was the catalyst that had him on the road, in the rain, at such an early time, way before he would have woken up for his own job, and tried to exit on the WRONG exit.
I was really flustered at the laboratory and I had to do a dummy run with the graduate student who's in charge of the study. >_< I sounded like an idiot, even though that was in the afternoon and I should have calmed down by then. I didn't eat all day. I was too stressed and also, well, wanted to punish myself. I did have an Ensure but it was more because it was in my hands (Matt's father handed it to me when I was leaving the house; I ignored the other granola bars someone put in my bag). But when I get back here and Matt is talking to me like normal, I ate a banana. And ate about half of a 400g of Milo... I feel like I'm just a wuss for not keeping up this punishment on myself. I don't know how Matt's insurance works but if I caused him to not get some great insurance upgrade or lower deductible or something because he hasn't gone a year without an accident, I truly suck.
Blah. I hate causing other people problems, especially money problems. And now I don't want to face Matt's parents and see their disappointments. Or their light-hearted jabs. I don't know; their family dynamic can be (very) mocking. Though Matt sees it as normal, obviously, since he grew up with it, but I find it alarming and "ohmygod, hide me" or "ohmygod, that person is being so spiteful." But family dynamics are all so different. Matt and I had a fight about that last week because I felt he was mocking me too much... :-S
So Matt can't signal a left turn from the front, though there is a tiny rectangle light underneath the corner headlight that also blinks but it's so tiny...
So...yes, story of what happened today.
I stayed up pretty late last night, just mooching around online but also taking this online test for this recruiting company in Chicago. (I suck at knowing more than the basics in Word, especially Word 2003, and I suck at ratios/math.) I went to bed maybe aroudn 2am? When I woke up this morning it was 7:30am. I gasped and Matt woke up and when I was panicking he offered to drive me. Later I found out he had turned off my alarm. (I had it set for 5:50am, I believe.)
It was raining then, and still is raining now.
We were on the highway and I changed the address I told him to put in his GPS app on his phone. It was originally 55th & Cottage Grove but that's where the bus drops me off and I have to walk to 59th & Cottage Grove. I told Matt to take an exit 0.7 miles ahead and we were not in the rightmost lane. When trying to merge, he rear-ended the car ahead of us because his head was swiveled to check his blind spot. There was cursing and angry thumping of the steering wheel from him and shocked apologies from me.
We had to get off the exit which took a LONG time and the man he rear-ended followed us. They exchanged information and looked at the damage. Matt's left blinker got smashed and a bit of a fender bender. I didn't look at the other man's car.
Then Matt checked what address I had put in and informed me that, stupidly, I typed *99th* & Cottage Grove instead of *59th* & Cottage Grove. I was what caused us to try and exit so quickly and suddenly without us having to! Matt said he was wondering why it told us to exit so suddenly. (I had told him in the car I had put in 59th instead of 55th so I could save myself the walk in heels.)
Matt drove me to the university. He was very sweet. He said he was angry it happened, angry at me, too. I'm glad he didn't hold back in fear I'd crumble because I find that kind of patrionizing if someone doesn't tell me something because they think I can't handle it. He demanded "Well? Say something!" earlier when we were trying to exit and find a place to park and exchange information. I tend to be really quiet when something happens that's conflict-raising (like that time I got us lost on the trains http://hani.livejournal.com/
He also texted me when he got home "Home safe. Got estimate on replacing headlight, and all will be well. Love you." I didn't read it until much later because I had my phone away and silenced but that is very sweet and, well, so un-angry.
When I got back Matt told me that someone who works for me has a husband who works for the Metra here and is also a mechanic. They used his ID to buy the new headlight/blinker part from a wholesaler for much cheaper than they sell single consumers and that he will also attach it for free. It also goes towards paying for their family's bills at Matt's father's office since his father's a doctor. Matt said he thinks he got the shakes out of him an hour or so ago. He said when someone slammed a car door he jumped.
On the way back (bus, train, bus) the first bus almost got in an accident. The braking was rather abrupt and the horn sounded angry. I'm glad the big city bus didn't clip a *person* - I think it was another bus or car it was almost in danger of hitting. I was in the back and couldn't see. At least there wasn't another accident.
I'm paying Matt back $50 for the new headlight, though he won't let me pay full price. He said he has a steadier income than I do, which is true, but still. I was the catalyst that had him on the road, in the rain, at such an early time, way before he would have woken up for his own job, and tried to exit on the WRONG exit.
I was really flustered at the laboratory and I had to do a dummy run with the graduate student who's in charge of the study. >_< I sounded like an idiot, even though that was in the afternoon and I should have calmed down by then. I didn't eat all day. I was too stressed and also, well, wanted to punish myself. I did have an Ensure but it was more because it was in my hands (Matt's father handed it to me when I was leaving the house; I ignored the other granola bars someone put in my bag). But when I get back here and Matt is talking to me like normal, I ate a banana. And ate about half of a 400g of Milo... I feel like I'm just a wuss for not keeping up this punishment on myself. I don't know how Matt's insurance works but if I caused him to not get some great insurance upgrade or lower deductible or something because he hasn't gone a year without an accident, I truly suck.
Blah. I hate causing other people problems, especially money problems. And now I don't want to face Matt's parents and see their disappointments. Or their light-hearted jabs. I don't know; their family dynamic can be (very) mocking. Though Matt sees it as normal, obviously, since he grew up with it, but I find it alarming and "ohmygod, hide me" or "ohmygod, that person is being so spiteful." But family dynamics are all so different. Matt and I had a fight about that last week because I felt he was mocking me too much... :-S
So Matt can't signal a left turn from the front, though there is a tiny rectangle light underneath the corner headlight that also blinks but it's so tiny...
So...yes, story of what happened today.
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Date: 2011-10-14 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-15 10:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 04:42 am (UTC)*HUGS*
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Date: 2011-10-15 10:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-14 08:04 pm (UTC)As the old saying goes, 'shit happens!' I know it sucks, but at least everyone was ok, and it was just something minor.
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Date: 2011-10-15 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-17 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-21 04:22 am (UTC)