This morning I woke up feeling vaguely ashamed of myself and with a stiff neck. And not in a good way.
Last night, on my way to a meeting to present myself as a ‘safe pair of hands’, a secure and reliable fundraiser whom you can trust to act professionally at all times, I crashed my car into a verge. A shameful and embarrassing case of driver error. I was driving in the dark, on roads I didn’t know, and was taken by surprise by a rather sharp corner.
As the telegraph pole loomed up in front of me at speed, I had a flash of the last time a similar thing had happened, and was grateful at least that this time I didn’t have a box of eggs on the passenger seat. The car lurched to a halt, my passenger and I stopped screaming and my inner critic immediately began to tell me how stupid I was. My sub-conscious is not very supportive at times – it is very hard on me whenever I make mistakes of any kind.
In the pitch dark in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to know how to proceed. Not far from our destination, we opted to hobble on, arriving at our meeting late, both looking slightly hysterical and me with my hands covered in mud and oil. Always a great way to make a good first impression on potential clients.
This morning, I went out in the harsh light of day to inspect the damage. The dent was tolerable, but I was slightly concerned to see that the front tyres now seem to be pointing in different directions. Now I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t right.
An evening business trip that was meant to make me money, has ended up costing me. The biggest dent though isn’t the one in my bumper, it’s the one in my pride.
Photo credit: Kevin
Fabulous post Jo – but sorry to hear about your car woes! Sounds like it was the verge’s fault to me :-) Hope you’re back on the road soon x
Definitely the verge’s fault. It just sprung up out of nowhere…
Oh no!!!! I know exactly what you mean. I typically only crash going backwards. I have over the years collected trees, rubbish bins, letterboxes (we have them at the end of the drive Down Under) and last year my neighbours’ new Saab. Like you, I’m a fabulous driver!!! ;-p Hope your neck (and pride) recovers soon.
If only I HAD been going backwards, I might not have hit it with such speed…
Oh no, such bad luck! I always seem to crash in car parks or plough into bollards, which makes me feel like a blind old woman… At least taking a verge too fast is a proper MANLY way to crash…
Ouch. Painful pride and wallet! Still at least there’s no human damage. Great post x
Aww glad your safe! Other than your pride! :) x
Glad you’re both OK. Sounds like you may have bent the steering rack…not cheap I’m afraid. Fingers crossed it’s something cheap and simple instead. x
Poo bad luck. Are you sure you weren’t adding up the numbers of the car numberplate in front of you just to give it a go..? Like you say the silver lining is no eggs to clear up and kids safely tucked in bed.
I find a swift kick usually sorts a broken car.
I was so busy counting the vowels in the street signs I forgot to watch the road.
I would normally go with ignoring the problem – I once successfully had a satsuma in front of a warning light on the dashboard for several weeks – but it’s hard to drive with tyres pointing in opposite directions :-(