Decency

I hope all had a great weekend and recovered through this week. We had a nice week last week, got a few things done around here, Scott was off, he took a couple of vacation days, and added them to his vacation days for the fourth, so he had an entire week. The company we hired to do the driveway came to complete it, and we were rolling. We were instructed to stay off of the driveway for a week, let it set and cure. Ok, so we park the cars in the street, at the curb, legally. Is that unusual for your neighborhood? Never was when I was growing up. I guess, here in this neighborhood, it doesn't count. Neither does a curb, grass, belgiun block, driveway and another row of begiun block, oh, and another lawn. Lest I forget the rear quarter pannel on the passenger side of a car.

Let me back track...I live on a corner, there are STOP SIGNS at the corners. I live on the southwest corner of my road. Someone crossed from teh northeast stopsign , jumped my curb on the corner and crossed the driveway(scraped it up) hopped the other side of belgiun block and onto the front lawn and bam, hit the passenger side (rear) of my car pushing it out into the middle of the street. That isn't the half of it, they took off, left, didn't own up to their responsibility. BOOM!
My hubby and I were sleeping in our room at the back of the house, with air conditioner on. We didn't hear it, our 15 year old heard it, but thought at first that it was yet another mortar shell from the party down the street.. (we will get into that later) So, he was slow in getting up to look out of his window. By the time he sat up, the person had taken off. He ran across the hall, woke us, and we went outside, in various stages of dress, hair standing and in an unbelievable state.
A hubcap left on the driveway, a piece of the plastic that covers the undercarriage of the car left on the lawn. The car is smashed. NOw what? We stood there for a few seconds. A van pulls up, a large van, ford, american made, not matching the hubcap, toyota. The young couple stop, they apologize. We look puzzled, they couldn't get the plate number. They tried to chase down the car to get the plate number, so that we would have something for the police. They weren't successful, the car sped away, on a flat tire, with substantial damage. These folks witnessed the accident, and gave us a description of the car, so we called the police. The young couple went home, they were newlyweds who had their reception in their back yard at larger property further down the street. Nice folks. Glad they were there to give us a description. We thanked them, of course. So, the police came. The officer took the hubcap and the undercarriage cover, made out a police report, and basically told us that there were no injuries, so it was a hit and run, that would be the end of it. I guess that over 4100dollars of damage isn't going to warrant an investigation. Whatever! Yeah, like I have the deductible in my budget. OH well, what am I to do? I am on a mission to find this car. I have ridden around looking for it, Scott has ridden around looking for it. NO success. We are convinced that the person was a partygoer from the bash down the street. That they were under the influence and didn't want to get caught.

Let me tell you, it was quite a bash. It usually is on 4th of July. This year though, it was a little more than over the top. They had portable outhouses! The party started around 3pm, massive drinking, not that I am judgemental, I did it in my younger years, but never got behind the wheel, got someone who wasn't drinking to get me home. Or, slept at the person's house. We were wild, but this was WILD. The fireworks (which aren't legal to average citizens in NY) started at dusk. Ok, a few firecrackers, a few sparklers for the kids, maybe a boomer here and there. That we are used to. This was outrageous. I felt assaulted for hours. I felt as if my house was in the middle of a war zone. It was a professional show out there, sans the music to go along with it. The police drove by, asked them to stop, they did, for about a minute and a half, enough time for the officer and his cruiser to get down the street. Start right up again. Never ending until 11pm. Or so...the party continued into the night, that in itself didn't bother me, the fireworks did, my daughter is petrified of thunderstorms, let alone fireworks. She was shaking, so I had the air on in our bedroom, had her turn the tv on in there and fall asleep there. We moved her later, when Scott came to bed. Mind you, I am not your grouchy neighbor, I am not the one who EVER calls the police for anything other than something necessary. I don't knowck on doors to bug the neighbors about trivial stuff. I don't complain that their kids cut across my lawn, or that they litter on my property. I ask the kids not to sit on the lawn on the corner, that is about it. SO, when a neighbor has a get together, and it goes on past a decent hour, I let it go, they are having fun, they don't do it that often, etc. This party last Saturday was insane, and I mean insane. SO that is my 4th of July story.

Hey, CLiff and Ralph, guess if I had been able to go to Blogstock, the car would have been in the Midwest, with no rearend damage, huh? That was a sad attempt at a joke, but I tried.

My point here is that Decency comes in many forms. None, much and a little. This weekend I experienced a couple of forms. The none, the folks who had the insane asylum going across the street. The person who ran from their responsibility after hitting my car. And then, there was the couple who were just moving their van. They chased the people to get a plate number. They came back to give us a description, they tried to make the accident right for us. So that is my rant. I am finished and convinced that among the indecent, there are decent folks.