The devil is in the details

I’ll have you know that I have had an unblemished, accident-free driving record. And I was sedately stationary behind a string of vehicles that had stopped when I was unceremoniously rear-ended by a chauffer-driven car. The police patrol car cruising behind us saw the whole thing.

I had seen Dreamer bearing down on me in my rear-view mirror at a rate of knots and the split second I looked ahead to gauge my distance from the lorry in front is when he rammed into my car. Sigh. But the shock I felt was when the impact propelled my car and thrust it firmly into the back of the lorry – that was most unexpected and I was quite, quite, stunned! I could not believe that my car was so crumpled and disheveled – both front and rear, and marched indignantly towards Dreamer who seemed equally stunned. Huh!

His titled passenger and employer was most gracious and civil, and even wrote his mobile number for me on his business card which stated that he was a President and Chairman of an array of companies and associations. He said that I was to call him if any problems arose with claims. We congratulated ourselves for being blessed enough to be unhurt and able to be carrying on a polite conversation. He was almost angelic in his manner and no unpleasantness transpired between us.

Having had absolutely NO experience in such matters I called upon a cousin who arrived immediately and took charge of what needed to be done, and he called his wife too, who received me in their home and comforted me. Without hesitation they lent me one of their cars, without which I would have been well and truly highly inconvenienced, to say the least. What a couple of angels!

A day later there were still no signs of physical injury apart from a mildly sore derriere and shoulder both of which had been rudely thrust against the car seat during the consecutive collisions. Both cars had had to be unceremoniously towed away, so obviously angels had protected us all from physical injuries and a fate that could have been a whole lot worse than merely inconvenient.

When the appropriate number of days had passed I called the police station to find out if their investigative report was ready for collection, and the officer assured me that it was. He also courteously told me that I did not have to trouble myself with collecting it personally, as the workshop could do that for me as part of their process of submitting the insurance claims. What a considerate angel, I happily thought. All in all this nasty experience was turning out to be less of a hassle than it might have been, I thought gratefully. Such smooth sailing amidst ugly wreckage!

When the message from the police was conveyed to the workshop, the administrator laughed knowingly and divulged (among other revelations) that if I collected the documentation personally, the fees I’d be charged were minimal (there’s a sign with all the charges clearly displayed at the police station), but they would be asked to pay RMxxx if they were to go and ask for their release.

Aha! So that’s where that devil was lurking was he?