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July 10, 2006
My Old Man Is A Television Repairman, He's Got This Ultimate Set Of Tools. I Can Fix It.
One of the hazards of driving back and forth between New York and southern Delaware is that you have to actually share the road, so there's lots of other cars heading to the beach or back while you're driving. Some of them are driven by normal people; others are driven by complete chuckleheads; and still others are driven by people who are usually normal but are capable of the occasional chuckleheaded manuver. It's that last set you really have to watch out for. The full-time chuckleheads are easy enough to avoid and wish painful, fiery intestinal conditions upon; it's the part-timers who catch you off guard.
In Delaware on Highway 1 on the way home, I got rear-ended by a kid who looked like he hadn't yet been born when I graduated from high school. Traffic was stop and start due to a red light a good quarter mile up the highway; it was very easy to think traffic was moving again, when all of a sudden everyone would just stop for some reason. Only this time the kid didn't stop, and plunked into the back of my car. (As he and I exchanged information, he was despondent and said he was having a very bad day; he'd gotten a ticket not more than an hour before our little encounter. Yay.)
Everything with the car is fine; my bumper's scratched a little but seems to have come out no worse for wear. And I figured all's well that ends well; it was a minor incident, my car seemed unhurt, I seemed unhurt, and the kid seemed nice enough... I've been prepared to just let it go. The thing is, starting a few hours after the incident, my back started really bugging me, to the point where I didn't sleep much last night because of back discomfort.
There's nothing worse than the accident milker, in my book. (Well okay, social conservatives ae worse in my book, but this isn't a political post.) I keep thinking of Uncle Fester's guest shot on The Brady Bunch as the guy who exaggerates a neck problem after a minor dust-up with Carol. And you know, this was a minor bump, he couldn't have been going more than 10-15 mph, and my car isn't even dented, just scratched. I certainly don't want to make problems for the kid, who was sufficiently deferential, apologetic, and just plain bummed out when we talked afterward that he delfated any annoyance I might have had. (I kept thinking of "Fast Times At RIdgemont High," when Spicoli and the other kid get into an accident with Forrest Whitaker's car... I half expected him to come out saying, "My brother's gonna kill us! My brother's gonna s*it!") Frankly, I was 18 once too and would have hated to have some self-important buffoon yapping at me over something I already felt awful about anyway. No blood, no foul -- right?
So my every inclination is to dismiss this whole thing and write off the back pain to psychosomatia. Except for that I hurt, bad enough to not sleep well last night. But -- how could I mess up my back from a minor fender bender that barely nicked my car? That hardly seems possible, especially given that it's my lower back and not really my neck that bugs me. I can't have injured myself in a love tap-style bump, could I?
Hopefully it goes away soon enough and the point becomes moot. Anyway, I'm home and in one and a half pieces, and now it's back to the grind. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July holiday.
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Comments
This happened to me. I was on my way to cover a meeting as a reporter. I was rear-ended, felt fine, no damage to the car. As I'm in the meeting my neck starts aching. I take two Motrin. Neck still aches. Hawk was a resident & on call so I called him & he said to come into the ER. I had whiplash. I did some at-home PT, followed up w/ my doc and all was fine.
Lesson: it's not in your head. You'll need to say it was b/c of a car accident & there will be some slight insurance hassle when they submit to his company to pay the bill but once his company knows you don't intend to sue him, they're happy to pick up the tab. Just my experience.
Posted by: Eden at July 10, 2006 10:25 AM
Go get checked out. Don't blow this off. Don't let empathy or symapthy for the kid guide you to not seek medical evaluation for this.
Posted by: Hawk at July 10, 2006 07:11 PM
right? your back is your back dude. It has to support your butt for the rest of your life.
Do you want to be all hunched over like my granny?
Posted by: thebeav at July 10, 2006 09:15 PM
I have been in many accidents, some minor, some major. And I've lived my life since I was 8 due to back pain. What I have learned in my quest, is that the less impact to your car, the more shock your body absorbed because of soft tissue! So who cares what your car looks like, don't let tight muscles fester like a strawberry seed in your teeth you never flossed out until 20 years later when it required surgery! I went to a chiropractor after my last accident who has a reclining massage chair that worked wonders on my discomfort. I sleep like a baby after each visit!
Posted by: April at July 11, 2006 01:06 AM
So, how is your back doing?
Posted by: Hawk at July 12, 2006 01:03 AM
You were supposed to have forgotten about it by now after having been blown away by 80s nostalgia. :-)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at July 12, 2006 01:17 AM
You know, you and Officer Nosal of the WPD have that compassion in common.
I shattered a mailbox and he let me off with a verbal warning to drive ON the road, because I was in marching band. Dorky, but cool.
Also, everyone above me is right. Get your back checked. I thought my shoulder was fine for months, and now I have nerve/ligament/icky issues.
So do that.
Posted by: A Disturbingly Cynical College Student at July 12, 2006 10:54 AM
It's my job to not forget about things like this.
Posted by: Hawk at July 12, 2006 11:05 AM
