College: Preacher Loses A Car Door

You remember the gas lines in the late 1970s? Well, one day I was driving down the mountain to college as usual, when I saw a long line of cars snaking out from a gas station ahead of me. The cars were waiting in the right portion of the right lane, which was where I was driving at the time. I couldn’t get into the left lane because there was a car beside me, so I was forced to drive alongside this line of cars.

Everything was going fine until a man decided to open his car door at that precise moment. He didn’t even look, he just flung open his door. Fortunately, some sixth sense must have warned him something was wrong, because he pulled his arm back just as I hit his door.

I was traveling at about thirty-five miles an hour. The momentum from my car ripped the door completely off of its hinges and flung it almost fifty feet ahead of me. With my heart pounding heavily in my chest, I turned my car around and prepared to talk with the man whose car I had just damaged.

I was surprised to see a rather short, pleasant, middle aged preacher get out of the car. I knew he was a preacher immediately, because of he was wearing one of those special collars that Catholic preachers seem to like.

Instead of yelling at me, like I expected, he was very embarrassed and apologetic, and claimed all responsibility for the accident. We exchanged all of the necessary insurance information, and I proceeded on my way.

I didn’t need to worry much about the insurance. They informed me that this sort of accident is virtually always considered the fault of the car whose door is removed. Thus, they would repair my car without adjusting my rates. The damage to my car was so light, however, that I never bothered to bring it into the shop. I never heard from the preacher or the insurance company again, so I assume everything was taken care of properly.