Since I’ve moved to Albany in October, I have noticed that the people have been wonderful, helpful and kind to me. Of course, they would be – if you saw a woman standing in the street waving you down (happened in “Me & Getting Lost - Chapter 1”).
The other thing I’ve noticed is there have been four car accidents on our little block of ten houses since October. Our young neighbors, who have lived here for two years, don’t understand why all of a sudden there are multiple accidents. Well…things seem to happen when we are around. Think of us as a potential sitcom called the “Black Cloud.” It always seems to be hanging around us.
So last Saturday, I was out in the front yard, doing some gardening and had just stepped into the house when I heard that familiar sound of two cars slamming into one another. I turned around saw one car touching a tree on our grassy boulevard. I couldn’t see the other at that point.
I dialed “911” on our landline (yes, I’m one of those people). I explained there had been a car accident and gave the street location. I was asked questions that I couldn’t answer. How many cars, how many people involved and were any of them hurt? I explained about the sound one hears when two cars slam into one another. The 911 operator thanked me for calling and that help was on the way.
I walked over to the other side of our boulevard to let people know that 911 had been called. I saw two people dressed like they were going to an event. They were. They were headed to the nearby Temple to attend a bar mitzvah. Their car was totaled and as you might expect, the airbags had deployed.
There were a number of people at the site, and I thought some of them were involved in the accident. No, they were neighbors like me, coming to help. One brought water and folding chairs for the people in the accident to sit on.
Come to find out, the two people in the car that was resting on the tree, were still in the car. I never saw them in all the excitement. At one point, I did see a stretcher near the passenger side.
One of the neighbors whom I recently met (Sarah), was standing with the couple and was very upset. I found out she had been stopped at the stop sign when Sam and Martha’s car was hit. Their car swung around and missed Sarah’s car by mere inches.
Sam & Martha had driven up from Long Island to attend the bar mitzvah. They now had no car and were stranded. I volunteered to take them to the Temple, but the service was almost over. They now needed a car to get to their hotel and then head back to Long Island the next day.
Sam was talking to the insurance company’s customer service rep about getting a rental car from Enterprise (the insurance company had a contract with). In the meantime, one of my neighbors was moving their belongings into my car. We found that the Enterprise located downtown was going to close at noon, it was now 11:40. Off we go.
Martha had Waze and was guiding me downtown. I was following her instructions and we were doing great until I missed the street we were supposed to turn on. I turned around in someone’s driveway.
Things got crazy. I ended up by my nemesis “The Egg” and I knew I was truly lost (see previous posting “Me & Getting Lost”). I made another turn, and the road was blocked off by the police for some type of an event, I made another turn and ended up crossing the Hudson River to Rensselaer. Don’t ask.
Sam called Enterprise to let them know we were on our way but had ended up on the wrong side of the river. At this point, the Enterprise Customer Rep checked and said he didn’t have a car registered in Sam’s name. The only other option was to go to the Albany Airport where another Enterprise was located.
Okay folks, here’s where it got really dicey. I knew how to get to the Albany Airport from my house. I have PTSD from my various failed trips into the City of Albany. So off we go, passing the intersection where the accident occurred and where my house was.
We made it to the Airport. Only to find that Enterprise doesn’t handle insurance-related rental cars and even if they did, all their cars were rented out for the next three days. Yikes.
Sam went off to talk to Budget Rental. They too don’t deal with the insurance-related rentals. At this point, it didn’t matter, they needed a car to get back home to Long Island.
One thing Martha kept saying was how kind I was to help them out. Why wouldn’t I? I would like to think if I were in a situation like theirs, someone would do the same to help me.
I’m grateful that I live in the neighborhood that I do. A number of people came to their aid which is the way it should be. People helping one another, being kind to each other. In today’s world we need so much more of that kindness.
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