An Exciting Evening Out

Tonight the kids went to a church dance. Carl and I were home alone, so we decided to go to Best Buy and maybe get something to eat. We were going to Best Buy to replace a broken DVD player. The one we have had for the last year or so, quit working. It was a cheap model, but did the trick. We replaced it with basically the same model, just slightly updated. It's crazy to think that it cost more to fill my gas tank than it did to replace the DVD player. We truly live in the day of disposable electronics.

We left Best Buy and were driving down Kam Highway. It isn't really a highway in the mainland sense of the word. Especially in Aiea, it is a busy city street, 3 lanes wide in each direction, full of stop lights and bus stops. The speed limit can't be more than 35. Anyway, I am driving along, having a conversation with my husband, when WHAM! the car behind me rams into the back of my car! Our bodies fly forward into our seat belts with a jolt. Needless to say, I am stunned. So bizarre - I have no experience with anything even remotely like this. Carl starts yelling at me to stop. I can't see how stopping in the middle of all that traffic could possibly be a good thing. It just didn't seem safe to me. I didn't want to get hit again. I signaled, and started moving over to the far right lane. There is no shoulder on this stretch of road, so I didn't like the idea of stopping there either, but Carl keeps insisting that I stop, so I did.

While I fumble to find the hazzard lights, he jumps out of the car, and goes back to talk to the car that is stopped behind us. They think he is crazy, asking them if they are ok. It is NOT the car that hit us, just some car that was traveling in the right lane when I stopped and blocked their way. I doubt they even saw what happened to us moments before. He jumps back in the car, and I proceed to drive on to our next stop, that is just around the corner. The guilty party is nowhere in site. It's dark and traffic is heavy, neither of us saw the other vehicle clearly at all. I think it was some sort of van or truck, but I don't really know. It was dark, and my view in the rear mirror is cut in half by the spoiler on the back of my car. (I hate that fin even more now - Dang fin!.)

When we got out and looked at the car it seemed fine, other than some stress cracks in the surface of the plastic bumper. My back feels a little jarred, and my right knee hurts. I am not sure if it still hurts from my run the other day, or if it has anything to do with the jolt from behind slamming it into the gas pedal. Should I have stopped right there, in the middle of all that traffic and tried to flag down the jerk? Should I have called the police? What would be the point of calling the police? What would I say? - "Hello, Officer, I would like to report an accident. Some vehicle hit me from the rear. No, I do not know what type of vehicle. No, I do not have a license plate. No, I do not know what color it was. No, there isn't any significant damage to my car. No, I am not injured and in need of an ambulance. Why did I call? Well, I guess I just thought you would like to know that there is some unidentified jerk out here that rammed my car and drove away."

So, we drove on, bought some dog toys and some candy, had dinner, and came home. So much for our exciting Friday night out!