Stupid, stupid, stupid...

I forgot to recount the story of my yet another car accident! This was a little over a week ago.

Dumb! dumb! dumb! I was coming up to a light, barrelling along and this car in front of me actually stopped. They never do this in France! Yellow, or orange as they call it, usually indicates to speed up here. I did see him hit the break but I simply didn't have enough time and there had been rain so it was a little slick (heard the words to this song before? like last July and my last accident??)

He looked mad. He had a right to be, regardless of the fact he was The Only Person In France Who Stops For Yellows. As soon as he saw me...and my three offspring all ready for school in the back seat...

We pull over. He seems okay. "You have an accent" "Um, yeah, I know..." "Where are you from?"

Honestly, he was kind of taken the novelty of being hit by a foreigner in this rather locally area of Cronenbourg (the famous beer place but the town is spelled with a "C").

I called a cab for Ronnie and Talia because they started school at 8. They missed it but not by much. Davina's preschool next door is at 8:30 and obviously, it's less important that she's there at all. Talia was a drama queen, crying even though she was with Ronnie (is anything simple with that girl?!?)Both schools were called and informed. I stuffed 15 euros in Ronnie's pocket and luckily, the cab driver had an accident form, something neither of us did.

He was being very philophical, telling me not to be so hard on myself. "No one was hurt, that's what's important". I was feeling very lucky to have run into him instead of someone else that morning!

So he sees my name. You're Jewish. Turns out he knows some Yiddish. I told me he was from Schultzheim. I called Daniel to give him the good news and said "I think this guy's from the community" (code for Jewish). When I told Daniel his last name and the town, Daniel said it wasn't likely. Odd...

So he asks me all sorts of questions, things French people usually don't. They're decreet but he was really curious and I guess he thought it was his right because it was my fault that we were sitting on the side of the road by a military cemetary.

He wanted to know if I had voted for Bush. I laughed. You already know I'm Jewish and from California, shall I defy my statitics? I had to explain as Jewish people are more politically conservative here, while American Jews are more liberal.

Again, I explained that I met Daniel here in France. I was already living in Paris. He asked me what he did and I said cow merchant. He gets all excited. "Now that's a typically Jewish profession!" He was really stuck on this Jewish thing. "Does he know the...from Nattzwiller?"

Oh gosh. So on my next call to Daniel, to tell him that the kids were off to school, I ask him. "Does he know Jean-Yves and Emmanuel?" The guy laughs and asks to hand the phone over. Turns out they're his cousins and Daniel works with them.

His mom was Jewish. Figures that I'd bash my car into another mixed Yid!

My car had more damage but ironically, was drivable. His had less but one piece of the bumper stuck into the tire so he couldn't go anywhere.

I felt an obligation to stay with him until the tow arrived, as he was really nice, including giving a teddy bear to Davina. Turns out the tow truck mixed up the cemetaries in Cronenbourg (kind of the Colma of Alsace). Now the tow guy seemed nice enough but one wonders, two cars on the side of the road is not something that can hide or go away. Why he had been sitting by the Jewish, instead of the military cemetary, kind of defies logic but we were glad when he came.

Before it happened, I was debating whether I was going to try to fit in swimming before going to Yoga. My morning was spent at the side of the road, then at Toyota. I drove Davina to St. Jean in my nicely newly decorated Yaris, then headed over to the garage.

I miss Autohaus Gieger like anything! That nasty Vincent at Toyota. He can never be straight about things. It wasn't our first encounter. No, you can't leave your car. Why can't I leave the car? You need an apointment and you can't make one until the expert comes and we can't just let you leave it not knowing when they arrive...

Eeeek!

Listen, I told them, we have to come up with some sort of plan. I have three kids and a husband with a very erratic schedule. I can't be throwing cars to the other side of Strasbourg at a moments' notice.

Vincent was all miffed that my insurance didn't cover a replacement car. I finally told him straight that we don't pay the extra to have that service because we basically have an extra car because I have a mother-in-law who can no longer use hers'. Ugh.

I called Daniel to lament. He told me to have them fax the accident report directly to the insurance from Toyota, which Vincent begrudingly did. He also equally begrudingly did the paperwork to leave the car, even without the insurance inspector/expert (I forget English!) makes an apointment.

I drove the car home, which wasn't the best idea but Vincent didn't give me a choice. Daniel came home, we picked up the girls from school (Ronnie stays and eats at Fossé) and drove down to Benfeld to get Joselyne's car. The insurers called me and told me they could see it on Monday. I dropped Talia back to school (Davina doesn't return in the afternoon), drove home, got the Yaris while Daniel went straight to Toyota. We left the car and came home.

I really miss my Yaris. Joselyne's car has a sticky clutch which I had to get used to.

But my stupidity was equalled this morning. I had a bad night and Ronnie has developed this bad habit of joining us in our bed. I would't be that mad except he squirms and I actually kicked him out again. I got back to sleep only to have Daniel wake me up.

"Um, I backed out before the garage door was all the way up..." It was totally open. Great! No security whatsoever. Oh, and what was I going to do this morning? afternoon? Luckily, Fatima was here this morning so I could go shopping (forget swimming) and they did arrive around 3:30 to do a provisional repair job.

I'm so glad because although we can lock the door between the kitchen and basement and could have alarmed just downstairs, I knew I wouldn't have slept decently anyway.

I need my sleep, my car and my son to stay in his own bed!!!