"Crash"

It happened at the inn. It was a scene out of the movie, "Crash", where cultures collide.

While sitting at my desk checking emails, I heard a loud BOOM! The house shook violently. Not knowing what happened, I jumped up and ran to the room where a group of ladies (median age: 85) were playing bridge. I thought someone had fallen, but when I entered the room, I found all of them looking out the front door. They were as startled as I was and though they didn't see what happened, they speculated that a wreck had occurred. There was no evidence of this except for a car that was stopped on the side of the road just across the street.

I went out to investigate. What I found astounded me. It didn't take long to figure it out. Lying in the front yard was the tire that had flown off the now disabled car that I saw on the side of the road. It (the tire) must've become airborne before it hit the house, because the point of impact just missed the front glass door by mere inches where, by the way, the ladies were sitting at the bridge table. No doubt they were shaken! As I inspected the house, I discovered a hole in the brick foundation. And looking back toward the street, I saw that the trajectory of the flying tire took out a spotlight and bush along the way.

Now, imagine the scene. The car was one of those early model 1970's Cadillac cars. Gold I think, with "spinner" hubcaps - lots of shiny chrome, sitting really low to the ground - and now with a missing tire, it was REALLY low. It took this guy a few minutes to get out of his car. In a swaggering stride, a young black male dressed in baggy shorts, sporting an oversized jersey and unlaced high-top tennis shoes emerged talking on his cell phone making wild gestures indicating his anger and fury. No Kidding!

Oh, the yelling and flailing arms were in overdrive. I'm sure this was a calculated move on his part, because when he sauntered toward me, his voice and gestures became more pronounced and agitated. When I asked him for his insurance card, he effectively ignored me. He was too busy on the phone to speak to me. Naturally, I overheard the convoluted conversation, and what I was able to understand (and what he wanted me to hear) was that the car belonged to the person on the other end of the phone. The tires had been replaced with tires that didn't fit the wheels. Of course, no one had told him. How could he have known that something like that could happen? Oh, he was playing the roll of victim, for my benefit. What he saw was a middle-aged woman, someone he could easily take advantage of, but since he chose to ignore me and my request, I chose to call the police from the cell phone I held in my hand. I, too had a weapon!

I waited for the law to arrive, and while I waited, this dude thought he'd just retrieve the tire and leave. I don't think he thought about how he'd leave. That car was going nowhere, but nonetheless, he got the tire and started rolling it back to his car. He was still on the phone, by the way.

Luckily, the police came quickly.

Much to my relief, police officer Dan took control of the situation, but not before this guy copped an attitude. As the policeman quizzed him about his license, registration and insurance, he continued his conversation on the phone. I guess he thought this strategy would somehow work for him. Youth or stupidity, maybe both were at work. Still, the suspect failed to produce the requested documents, so the officer told him to hang up the phone, then asked him his name. I could hardly believe my ears when this guy refused to give the cop the information. That's when officer Dan threatened jail, and that's when I decided to go inside.

After some straight talk from the officer to the suspect in question, the guy eventually cooperated, thank God. After all the paperwork was completed, the process to remove the vehicle was initiated, and a ride home was arranged.

The short of the long was that, as you might've guessed, this guy had no license or insurance. His claim was that the car belonged to his buddy, and his buddy had just cancelled the registration and insurance because he'd sold it to someone else. Yeah, right. I called the shot when I saw it. I'd be the one to lose, and in the end, I did. I had to pay for the repairs myself. A police report and charge did nothing to help my cause.

Anyway, with everything under control, the ladies resumed their bridge game.