"Remember Mommy, Mercury is in retrograde!"

AKA what the girl said right after we were rear-ended on High St. Tuesday. Short version: EVERYONE IS OKAY (just in need of some chiro).

Long version: (after the fold)

The kids and I were driving to CHOICE to p/u some supplements that I was going to run over to one of my clients. It was raining. (Yep, another one of those rain-caused accidents.) Just after I went through the light I saw a pedestrian in the middle of the street (between the yellow turn lane lines) who looked rather frantic and as if she were going to run out in front of me. I stopped to let her cross, not wanting to have to brake in the rain if she decided to bolt in front of me. Besides, she was in the cold rain and we were in a warm car. I didn't understand why she had such a look of pain on her face until BAMM!!!! We were rear-ended. She threw me a guilty look, took advantage of the momentary stop in traffic, then crossed to the bus stop. I ascertained that the kids were okay, dug through my purse for the cell and started the process of reporting the accident as her bus came up and she blithely got onto it. Guess she had to be someplace.

The young woman who hit me was a high school student on her way to get lunch. She was physically unhurt, but freaked out about her first accident and her car, which was a mess. She had one of those 'break-away' front ends and it did, indeed, break away. *(Our van was relatively unscathed. It needs some passenger side rear bumper work and a new muffler. But of course, the estimate was over a thousand.)* I helped her find her hazards and pull over, and tried to reassure her, but to little avail. Her first call was to her mom, bless her heart, who soon arrived with other family to help. They took pix of my bumper (maybe a phone cam isn't such a bad idea) and we all made our statements to the police officers, who were friendly and efficient. All in all, it was a small annoyance considering what it could have been. As I told her mom, it was one of those real life learning incidents which fortunately, only resulted in a few folks getting shaken up, rather than badly hurt.

BUT SINCE THEN!!!! It's been about 15 years since I was involved in an accident and BOY! I hadn't realized what an industry has been spawned. Two days later, I took 4 calls from chiropractors, to both my home phone and cell, before I stopped answering them. I've also received 14 solicitations from personal injury lawyers, whom I shall avoid calling the common sobriquet for fear of attracting their wrath. What a racket!!! As well as a :sad: state of affairs.

So, for the next couple of weeks, leave a message when you call. I'm not picking up the phone until I know who it is.