the moral of this story is never let them leave the scene of the crime.

on the way home this evening, there was a wild hydroplaning crack-em-up in front of us. carpooling coworker brilliantly brought her car to a complete stop, we breathed a sigh of relief at not having been caught in the crossfire, and WHAM we were hit from the rear.

jeepus. everyone out.

you okay? you okay? yeah. yeah. how's your car? any damage? eh, not much, just a scratch. hard to believe - hardly any damage. hey, so, i need to be somewhere. i am gonna give you my business card and my insurance info and you call me, okay? i gotta go. here. here's my card. i gotta go. now.

jeepus. there he goes.

we waited & waited for the coppers. it rained. quit. rained some more. the firemen showed up. the ambulance for one of the other drivers. finally the coppers showed up, and carpooling coworker gave 'em the biz card with the name & insurance info. they go - what kind of car was it? what was the license plate? what was the driver's driver license number?

jeepus. what a pair of eejits.

we were like - um... a blue toyota. maybe. no license plate number. no driver's license number. just a biz card with no personal phone number on it and an insurance policy number scrabbled on the back. she gave it over, and they wrote a report, but they said it would probably end up being reported as a hit & run. from what we gathered, that meant the mysterious stranger would not be held responsible.

jeepus. what now.

nothing to do but to pack up & go. we took stock and couldn't find the biz card. appears that the police kept it. now carpooling coworker cannot even follow up with him. did the coppers think we made this up and that we were trying to blame it on some random dude? that we drove around in a car with scratches on the back bumper looking for a crash scene to horn in on so we could corner some imaginary dude and pull off an insurance fraud?

jeepus. let's get out of here.

well? turn on the car. what? it won't start? krimany! try again. try again. yes - again. again. again. again. get that copper & tell him it won't start. oh, that's a super attitude mr copper. thanks. thanks for NOTHING. try it again. again. again. maybe it's the security system. call your old man - i'll call my old man. hello? hello? those old men got NOTHING. try it again. again. what? what? my old man says maybe it's the battery.

jeepus. stranded.

i got out and jogged up 100 yds to the copper car and told him we needed a jump. he said he's got no jumper cables. i said maybe he could call that roadside assistance truck. he said yes, he could do that. i did not say - well, i am standing here in the rain, so it woulda been real keen of you to have maybe thought of that yourself. jog on back to the car.

jeepus. more waiting.

rain. cars whizzing by. rain stopped. WHO IS THAT FREAKER PULLING UP RIGHT BEHIND US? oh. wait. that's the roadside assistance guy. roll down the window [yes, the windows were still working]. hello? hello? we need a jump. good. fine. stop looking at my pretty legs and get your magic booster box. mr roadside ass guy gets his magic battery booster box & gets us started, walks by the window for a quick you're-good-to-go and another gander at my gams.

jeepus. let's get out of here.

on the road again and home in no time. funny how when you sit, it seems for ages, and then when you're moving again, it seems to be no time at all.