Holy Smokes! I can't have nice things
 

A few months ago my wife clipped a post pulling into a carwash with our new Highlander. Today she's driving home from bringing meals to her parents and someone is running their mower across a stone alley with the deck on... yeah you guessed it, chips in the paint. Not terrible. The guy tried blaming my wife so she gave me a call. I stopped by and had a talk with the guy. I told him "I'll wash it, take a look to make sure the damage isn't worse, and see if I can buff out what is there. If not, I'll contact your insurance company. Does that sound fair?" The guy says "that sounds fair" and gives me his insurance information.

Now, I know when you can feel it with your fingernail that it's not coming out but I thought I'd try to ease the situation because my wife is pissed! I didn't dare ask my wife "didn't you see the asshat blowing stuff towards the road?"... because I value my life. Dang! I can't have nice things! :D

Life is kinda like that. The T shirt oracle is right that caca happens. But it does sound like your wife is one of those to whom caca happens more often than other people. I'd suggest that you gently try to make future purchases accordingly.

I hear ya man! I gave the Highlander a good bath. There are only two really good chips with one that has a small door ding. I'm thinking I'm just gonna get some touchup paint and call it a day.

yer gonna live longer

I know. It's just that I'm the type of person who will stop my mower if I see someone coming by and my chute is facing the road. People just don't GAF anymore.

Yep.

Many years ago, I was sitting at a light in my miata with the top down. I rarely put the top down, but that day I had. Someone was running a weedeater in the median. Whap, rock to the back of the head which is even worse when you shave your head than when you have hair. Stung like a mother!

I was friends with a guy that when he bought something new, like a bike or a car or a tv or a refrigerator, would go ahead and give it a defect in a noticeable spot, a scratch or a small dent, to take the 'new' off immediately so that he would be over that sense of loss you feel when those things happen organically.

I sort of admired that, but I also thought it was pretty weird. I've always tried to keep my stuff nice.

Take care of the ocd. I can see the reasoning behind that.

I would have never stopped to talk to the mower guy. We would have just assessed the damage when I got home. People are crazy, you have no idea how that guy would have responded. Glad everything turned out ok.

I do that but not on purpose. Brand new car with 6 miles on the odo is the danger zone.

Pull into the garage for the initial operations checklist, manual in hand. Cool! As I leave the garage and push the garage door button...

...hatch back left open. Crunch, scrape, scratch, bend, dent.

That was 14 years ago. Not a blemish since.

Lawnmower guy is probably safe. Wood Chipper? No way...

another good reason to have a beater

I think people do this because they are vindictive when you have nice things!

That's what burns me! I bought her the Highlander last year for our 25th anniversary. She hadn't had a brand new car since before we got married. I always buy vehicles with less than 30K on the odo and drive them. So the car she got out of had over 100K on odo... did she ever get hit by a stone thrown from a lawnmower in the years she drove it? Hell no! I buy her a new vehicle and in just over 12 months of driving it, BAM hit by a stone. I can't win.

I've been thinking about what you wrote all day today. It's really a sad statement about where we are that a person feels they can't address someone who did damage to their property. You're right though, the crazy has been ratcheted up to 10. We seem to be going the wrong way.

It sounds like you are objectifing your wife as a THING and dont think that she is nice.

Whenever i get a new car the first thing i do is make a dent in it with a hammer. Then it isnt a virgin and dont have to wprry about it anymore. Done!.

Yep! Ya got me.

As always.

No doubt... You're out there..... beyond the doors of perception man!