I'm not a bad person. I've done some incredibly mindless things in my lifetime (see my previous post on imbecilic things I've done...except for my mom, she isn't allowed to read it), and I know I will certainly be involved in many more unenlightened enterprises before I leave my current body and come back as a slug.
Some of the things I've done or the situations I've gotten myself into (or found myself in purely by accident) are regrettable, and some just make me laugh, and there are those that are regrettable and laughable at the same time. At times, when I'm writing or sewing, and my creative juices are screaming, memories of certain, let's say, "experiences" insert themselves into my brain. I either laugh out loud, shudder at the thought, or say to myself, simply "Oh Dear" and blank out, but then I feel the urge to confess. Write it all down. This is one of those times, if you haven't realized that by now, so hang on.
I moved from Raleigh to the big city of Philadelphia in 1996 at the silly age of 26 or 27. I immediately became best friends with one of my co-workers, and I'll call him "Mitch." Mitch taught me the city, where to go, where not to go, etc., and we were best buddies. One Saturday night I drove us to our favorite bar for a few beers. It was around 2am when we left the bar, and I was going to drop Mitch off at his house. I was driving down Pine Street, which at some points is extremely narrow, and wasn't well lit then (still isn't).
There was a car behind us, and as he was trying to pass me, Mitch yelled to me, "It's time you drove like a true Philly girl. DO NOT let this car pass you." Fueled at the thought of becoming a real live Philly gal, or just one too many beers, my foot pushed the gas pedal in and the chase was on. I held my own for a few blocks, but the car took the lead on my left side then we both had to stop at a red light. When the light turned green, I tried to regain my lead, but just as I was ready to pass him, we noticed a car parked on the street, and there was no avoiding it.
OK, I side-swiped the heck out of that car, and I'm not proud. I would have stopped and left a note (it was 2am) with my information, but the Philly girl in me had just been established and Mitch screamed, "Keep going, keep going, a saw a police car back there."
I won't go through the rest of the tedious details, but I dropped Mitch safely off at his house, and made it back to my apartment without further incident.
The next afternoon, Mitch and I were going to an outdoor concert and this time he was picking me up. The intercom buzzed and, thinking it was Mitch, I accepted the call and this is how the conversation went:
ME: "Hello."
VOICE ON THE INTERCOM: "Hello, am I speaking with Ms. S.?"
ME: (a little annoyed, because it wasn't Mitch and Mitch was already late) "Yes."
VOICE ON THE INTERCOM: "Ms. S., this is Officer O'Malley with the Philadelphia City Police Department. I need to speak with you about a hit and run accident that occurred early this morning."
ME:
VOICE ON THE INTERCOM: "Hello, Ms. S.?"
ME: (feeling for the chair at my desk to steady myself because my knees were about to buckle)
VOICE ON THE INTERCOM: "Ms. S., I'm going to need you to let me in so I can speak with you."
ME: (knees did buckle, now laying on the floor, blood had left my head...hell, the blood had left the building!)
VOICE ON THE INTERCOM: (laughing like a hyena) "It's me, Mitch. Ha ha. Let me in!"
...First and last time I ever side swiped a car...
