This past weekend got off to a rocky start. I got home from school about 3:40 and sat down in the living room thinking about whether my son purchased his Florida ticket yet when I heard something come screaming down the road.
Let me give you some background information about my house and how it relates to the street. Way back 29 years ago when we purchased our house we didn't really pay too much attention to the fact that it sits on the outside of a curve.
Let me give you some background information about my house and how it relates to the street. Way back 29 years ago when we purchased our house we didn't really pay too much attention to the fact that it sits on the outside of a curve.
When we looked at the house before buying it we never came down X St. We were young and the curve didn't seem like a big deal. That feeling didn't last long as the first week we lived there we noticed people liked to speed around the curve. The kids were never allowed to play out in the front yard for that reason. We've gotten so we can tell what kind of vehicle is coming down X St. We recognize the sound of the fire truck from the station at the end of the road, the snowplow, UPS etc.
Back to Friday...
I'm in the chair thinking and I hear something big coming down X St. I could tell it was coming fast and I didn't recognize the sound so I got up to check it out. I'm looking out the front window and see a garbage truck about 100 feet away coming fast and not slowing down. I knew instantly it wasn't going to make it around the curve and I saw a lawn job coming. The driver was fighting with the steering wheel trying to turn in time. He didn't make it.
Back to Friday...
I'm in the chair thinking and I hear something big coming down X St. I could tell it was coming fast and I didn't recognize the sound so I got up to check it out. I'm looking out the front window and see a garbage truck about 100 feet away coming fast and not slowing down. I knew instantly it wasn't going to make it around the curve and I saw a lawn job coming. The driver was fighting with the steering wheel trying to turn in time. He didn't make it.
Here's one of the four inch ruts he made in the lawn. We've hardly had any snow this winter, just rain and the ground is spongy.
He got pretty far up into the lawn but that was the least of his worries. Along the side our our property we have a line of boulders. I don't know the type of rock, I call them dinosaur rocks. They look prehistoric with bumps and holes in them along with some white dolomite minerals. In my part of town there's lots of it underground. The builder lined up some boulders across the back our yard and when we had a gas main replaced the utility company dug up many more. We had them lined up along the side. Imagine the driver's surprise as well as mine when he hit two of these massive rocks. It sounded like a bomb went off.
He managed to somehow drive over the boulder closest to the sidewalk and the other he just pushed out into the lawn.
These two boulders were lined up with the rest of the rock wall. After I got over the shock of seeing what the truck did I was putting on my shoes to go out and see if he was okay. Then I had another surprise as I watched him drive away! But not before I got a number off of his truck. I immediately called the company and got put through to Keith, a supervisor. He didn't seem all that concerned and said he'd try and come out Monday and look at it. I told him you don't understand, he didn't just do a lawn job, he ran over boulders. Yeah ok he says. I hung up with him, went out side to see my neighbor from two houses down in the driveway who said he was listening to the stereo when he heard the noise. He saw the truck drive away then called the police.
Long story short Keith shows up at 7:30 am Monday and is shocked and awed by what he sees. Apparently after I spoke with him on Friday he tried to get the driver on the radio and cell phone but he wouldn't answer. They were waiting for him when he pulled in and asked him what he hit. He said he didn't hit anything. The front bumper was pushed in and rubbing on the tire, the batteries had been lodged from their spot and he was leaking some sort of fluid. He was amazed that he was able to limp back to the garage with the truck.
He was very apologetic about the whole thing and was sorry he didn't come out on Friday. The driver has since been fired. Turns out he had been with them for 27 years and had 2 kids in college. Now he has no job. I do feel bad about that, if only he had stayed at scene he'd still be working. Even if he had a momentary lapse of judgement with leaving the scene he should have been up front and not lied to his boss.
In the end only you are responsible for your actions and the choices you make. He found that out the hard way.
Long story short Keith shows up at 7:30 am Monday and is shocked and awed by what he sees. Apparently after I spoke with him on Friday he tried to get the driver on the radio and cell phone but he wouldn't answer. They were waiting for him when he pulled in and asked him what he hit. He said he didn't hit anything. The front bumper was pushed in and rubbing on the tire, the batteries had been lodged from their spot and he was leaking some sort of fluid. He was amazed that he was able to limp back to the garage with the truck.
He was very apologetic about the whole thing and was sorry he didn't come out on Friday. The driver has since been fired. Turns out he had been with them for 27 years and had 2 kids in college. Now he has no job. I do feel bad about that, if only he had stayed at scene he'd still be working. Even if he had a momentary lapse of judgement with leaving the scene he should have been up front and not lied to his boss.
In the end only you are responsible for your actions and the choices you make. He found that out the hard way.
2 comments:
Wow! It must be frustrating having your lawn ruined like that. We are trying hard to teach our kids honesty, integrity, and taking responsibility. At least when you "face the music" so to speak; your heart can be free of guilt.
How frightening! Terrible!
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