Work today was – for the first time ever – frustrating. Horribly frustrating. So much so that I had to leave the office and go for a run, just to blow off some steam. It was at least thirty minutes into the run before my jaw unclenched.
Post run, things did not get much better. Frustration may have left for the day around 3PM, but it was too late. I felt like crying, and for no other reason than today was just not my day. It had started so well – with a new black blazer and a bright pink scarf and Whitney Houston on my iPod. Then, suddenly, it just wasn’t. From the moment the elastic went in one of my knee-high socks, the day was one huge disappointment after another.
And then, I got hit by a car.
I kid you not. A black Honda minivan (what is that, an Odyssey?). It wasn’t going fast enough to do anything but send me smack! onto my tush, scrape my hand and embarrass the hell out of me, but it also wasn’t how I was hoping to round out the day. The short of it is, Minivan Mom was making a right and thought she could squeeeeze by before I got to the middle of the crosswalk. But she thought wrong and… well, thus the smack, the scrape and the embarrassment.
I couldn’t decide if I should laugh (Because, I mean, really, of all things!) or just cry like a little girl.
Walking home (No, no. Really. I’m fine.), I started to feel very homesick for my old roommate Corey, who would have sat on my feet to keep them warm while he watched Sports Center and said things like, “It’s rough, kid.” and then wrapped up in blankets and sat with me on the sun porch, drinking gin and smoking cigarettes until our throats hurt.
But coming home to Sir Hal (who cannot hold his gin) after my craptastic day was not going to satisfy. I was stewing in frustration and some good old fashioned self-pity. So I dialed my sister. And spent the next 20 minutes punctuating our conversation with,
“And then! I got hit by a car!”
“I’m sorry,” she’d say.
And then she’d laugh. Because, I mean, really.
good god woman, that is one terrible day. here’s to a better thursday, at least ones without motor vehicle accidents.
Oh, hell to the no!
(Sorry, I really couldn’t help it. It was either that or quoting WH lyrics.)
Sounds like you didn’t cry, for which I give you much credit. Being a less composed person, I would have kicked Minivan Mom’s bumper, cursed quite loudly, walked proudly around the corner and then burst into tears.
Sending good karma your way. Sounds as if you needed it today.
“Craptastic” – what a great word… even on a bad day. Glad to find your blog.
sorry bout the day. i’ll run with you soon. i like getting hit by soccer moms.
Some days just suck, what can I say?
Tomorrow will be better, it always is.
Well – you can only go up from here right??
Am I the only one thinking “police report” and “lawsuit”? (Better day today wishes implied.)
Hopefully you are one of only a few, Barbara. It doesn’t sound like Fish got badly hurt and I’m sure that minivan mom is still feeling terrible about it. Why waste police and court time on something like that?
Sorry for the bad day. I do hope that you at least kicked minivan mom’s bumper.
Wow, Fish, I thought I was having a bad day…I hope today is better!
I will always remember the particularly foggy night in college that I got hit by a car at a crosswalk. Even though I was bleeding they just drove on. Frazzled, I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my roomate, Quinn. When I got home she was there- waiting to tell me how she got hit by a car walking home from work!
There is something about Wednesdays… for some reason it is just that day of the week that nothing usually goes right or goes well. The glow from the previous weekend has worn thin, and you still have another 2 days until the next weekend… and then you get hit by a car.
All I could do while reading your post was shake my head and mutter “Wednesdays” under my breath. Sorry to hear about your rough day…
oh Heather, I’m sorry about your bad day and then the unfortunate accident. I wish I’d seen this last night to help you feel better.
I hope you have a fantastic day today to counteract the bad Wednesday.
Black blazer and pink scarf, sounds like you were looking beeeeeutifuuul!
So, are we allowed to laugh?
Because, like you said, really. Just, really.
I’m glad you are okay!
My eye skips ahead sometimes, so when you were writing about the black blazer and the pink scarf and my eye saw Whitney Houston’s name, I thought you were *dressing* like Whitney Houston, not listening to her. Because that sounds like her kind of outfit, doesn’t it? Especially early Whitney. That and leggings.
It’s all a matter of how you look at things. It’s no exaggeration to say that you had one of the luckiest days of your life – you got hit by a car, a sort of thing that’s all too often *fatal*, and escaped with hardly anything but a little embarassment. That’s a terrific outcome!
I know, it would’ve been much better if you hadn’t tangled with the minivan (Odyssey is indeed the Honda minivan model) at all, but if you *were* going to tangle with it, things couldn’t have turned out better. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Oh! Thank GOODNESS it wasn’t just me. Yeah, my super-craptastic day happened just one before yours.
Keep the faith…and those who say it will be better tomorrow….LIARS!
I hate to say this, but yeah. Been hit by a car too. And fell on my ass. But I think the honda civic lady that hit me was going a bit faster. Had big goose-egg bruises on both my knees.
Sheesh. It was a craptastic day for me too. When it happened a whole 10 years ago. Regardless, at least today can be better right?
So that’s yesterday, today any better? It’s funny, my wife makes me sit on her feet sometimes too. Nothing punctuates SportsCenter like a toe up your rear. And to think, there are guys out there that pay extra for that.
Glad you’re not hurt.
jeeeeeeeeeeezz – glad you’re okay! did minivan mom even stop to see if you were okay, or did she just keep driving, too?
If I were there, I’d insist on taking you out for some fondue. Cheese fixes everything. So does Mr. Darcey. Ooh, and wool socks and ugly nubby sweaters.
Did you get her digits? I’m happy to beat a bitch down.
Laugh or cry are not the only two options! I bet you would have felt a whole lot better had you punched her in the face. (Ok, maybe not really but god that would have been good)
I hope she got a ticket!
I have a friend who is a letter carrier who was hit in almost exactly the same scenerio by an old lady. She had to have shoulder surgery (plus she was really bumped and bruised up and tore her MCL). I have taken it as a lesson that you really do need to wait for the pedestrian to CLEAR THE INTERSECTION before you try to turn (just like we learned in driver’s ed a million years ago).
Please tell me she got out and made sure you were ok. (And then you yelled at her “learn how to drive, bitch!”) Seriously, city drivers are insane.
put 1/4 gin and the rest water in Hal’s bowl to build his tolerance.
Poor Fish! What is up with the universe lately???
If anyone needs a smile you can look at pictures of my kittens being silly because lord knows there’s nothing interesting going on with my own blog lately.
I hate days like that! When you need to punch the hell out of something and then just sit there and think “where did it all go wrong?….”
Wow. So it’s not just me (in a funk for no rock solid reason) (‘course, I’ve not nearly been road kill). First thought is to head for the liquor, but that’s too short-term. Music is good. Chocolate is good. A manicure/pedicure is GREAT!
-my empathy
I dunno, Peter. I have MS and have people use the same argument with me. “you’re so lucky that you have very few symptoms and that you do well”. No, I’d be lucky if I didn’t have MS. Friends with lymphoma get the same thing. “you’re so lucky that it’s treatable” No, they’d be lucky if they didn’t have cancer. Compared to the average person’s stroll around town, getting hit by a car is unlucky, no matter what the outcome, although granted it could have been unluckIER. Perspective should tell us to feel lucky for the trials that we don’t have to face at all. That’s just my take.
So sorry to hear about your ****ty day, and sorry I’m late posting about this too!
Hope today is better… hang in there. Sounds like you looked really cute in the pink scarf and black blazer!:)
And I thought you Americans sued whenever you got hit by something? lol.
What an idiot! She hit you afterall. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You were in the crosswalk and she hit you. Luckily, you weren’t hurt.
you should move to australia…
(From This Fish: Not sure that would help… Unless it’s just magic down there!)
Wowsers. I would’ve screamed bloody murder anyway.
What a day. And your description of your old roommate Corey makes me miss Corey. I never had a roommate like that before!
“I dunno, Peter. I have MS and have people use the same argument with me. “you’re so lucky that you have very few symptoms and that you do well”. No, I’d be lucky if I didn’t have MS. Friends with lymphoma get the same thing. “you’re so lucky that it’s treatable” No, they’d be lucky if they didn’t have cancer. Compared to the average person’s stroll around town, getting hit by a car is unlucky, no matter what the outcome, although granted it could have been unluckIER. Perspective should tell us to feel lucky for the trials that we don’t have to face at all. That’s just my take.”
I understand what you mean. That’s why I had said originally that *if* you’re going to get hit by a car, it was the best possible outcome. In other words it’s assumed right from the start that something bad happens, so then we go on to look at whether the outcome was good or bad.
maybe it was the bad music? glad you are ok!!
OMG! I can’t believe she hit you! I’m glad you’re okay. At least it sounds like you looked cute. Just try to hold onto that.
Yeah, Peter, fair enough. I guess it was the ‘luckiest day of your life’ thing that got me.
I have also been thinking, however, that you deserve some kudos for being such a positive guy, so… kudos for being such a positive guy. I bet that makes a lot of people smile.
OMG! I’m so sorry! Reading this makes me think of the day I fell OUT of the commuter bus in front of the Starbucks by my old office. Yup, 8:15 on a busy morning and I’m the jackass that falls out of the bus onto my face. Hopefully you’ll look back on that day and laugh like I do. Because, really.
Hit by a car? Been there. Oh, boy….that day sounds like the past three years of my life, except metaphorically speaking it was more like hit by a car, then hit by a mini-van, then hit by a bus, and then finally run over with a semi-truck. Glad to hear you were okay though. Sometimes I wish I had never asked,”What next?”