Am I wrong? I thought I was doing the right thing…

[TekkGuy]

Warning: This is a long post.

Here goes… So this afternoon I was out with a (ex) friend on my lunch hour; we went to pick-up some Chinese food. When I went to park, I saw another Black Camaro (an SS) , so I figured I’d park next to it, so for sure one side of my car would be safe from dents . We get our food, get back to the car, as I am just about to hop into the driver’s seat, I hear “thump”… My heart sank :(… I look over and said to my friend “Please tell me you did not just hit the other Camaro with my door.” She looks at me with this sheepish expression and says “Yeah I did.” I felt sick to my stomach . I walk over to inspect both cars, mine has no damage, thank god, but the other guy had the smallest of dents where the door hit , no paint damage…again…thank god. Of course, anyone else would have high tailed it out of there . I am not that person, plus it’s a Camaro…I know if it were reversed, I would like the person to let me know somehow. So I look around, and I had no pen or paper in the car. So I walk back to the Chinese place, and ask for pen and paper, and I write a little note explaining what happened, and said that as long as it wasn’t too much money, I would pay for it myself without needing insurance to get involved, and I left my name and number.

As I get out of the restaurant to place the note on the car I see a guy walking towards me. I guessed it was the owner. I asked “Are you the owner of the Camaro?” He said yes. So I handed him the note and said, “I was just going to leave this note on your car. My friend accidentally dinged your door with mine. I am so terribly sorry, being a fellow Camaro owner I know how you must feel.” The guy looks at the note and get’s nasty (in my opinion) with me. He says, “I want your information. Your license, your insurance. What does this mean?” Pointing at my name on the paper. “And this number… “ I tell him, that is my name and number, and he can call it right now if he needed proof and see that my phone will ring. I told him that as he can see, I am not a bad person, and am trying to do the right thing by informing him of the little accident and giving him a way to contact me so I could repair the damage. He continued getting nasty, telling me that if I didn’t give him my information, he would call the police . I am like “Whoah, dude. I am trying to be nice here.” He didn’t want to hear it, saying “This isn’t gonna be no $200 fix you know!”, and how this is going to ruin his weekend :(. I tried my best to cut him some slack since I know how upset he must be because his beautiful car was dinged. So I agreed to go into another store nearby and have my info photocopied for him, I even gave him the name and number to my auto body guy, a man I trust with all my cars since he said he didn’t have one. I just figured he would have been a little nicer seeing as we were both Camaro owners and I was trying to do the right thing...guess I was wrong.

Now I am driving back to work and I am pissed off, because of my friend’s carelessness and the guy’s attitude. So I rip into my friend, telling her that she needs to be more careful, and that now I have to pay for this guys dent repair . Mind you, this is the second time she has banged a door of mine into something. Last time it was my Toyota, and she wailed it into a concrete post which she never offered or paid for it to get fixed. She stayed quiet, and then got mad at me! A few minutes later I tried to apologize for my snippiness, and explain that I was mad at the guy’s attitude and this whole predicament, and that all I am trying to do is the right thing. She says to me “You are young and havn't learned, which is why you are in this predicament. Other people would have just left and be done with it, his insurance would've fixed it.” Of course now I am fuming and I told her that I couldn't care less what other people would do, I am not other people, and that I believe in Karma. That if the roles were reversed I would have been very appreciative if the other person was nice enough to inform me and try to work things out. She then gets snippy with me and says “Don’t you think I am gonna pay for the damage of this guys ‘muscle’ car…I have mouths to feed and I can’t afford to pay for his stupid dent.” At this point, I was so astonished that she would have said such a thing, knowing damn well it was all her fault, and now she was getting mad at me. She didn't even have the decency to offer to pay for the damage but rather flat deny to pay, and I never even asked her to pay anything yet! So I stood up and left.

Yesterday I found out that I lost 2 of my side job clients due to money contraints...and this past weekend I spent $1600 on mods on my car nearly wiping out my “spending cash” for quite a while, and I am saving for a wedding. I don’t have money to spend right now on things like this… Man, when it rains, it pours. I just hope Karma pays back well for all the aggravation I am dealing with today… And I hope the damage won’t cost much to fix… I still feel sick to my stomach over the incident. This makes me think of the old adage, “No good deed goes unpunished…”

::Sigh::

Ok I am done, thanks for listening to my rant…

[ljstella]

That totally sucks that it happened dude. But I definitely think you did the morally right thing. But it pisses me off that the guy wouldn't be at least happy that you didn't just leave... you are lucky though that he didn't get super serious or anything, like what if he was packing some heat?

[IROCanSS]

why were you out on a lunch date with you ex if you have a wedding to pay for?

[d69chris]

Spot on dude!

Ex-friend or at least doesn't ride in YOUR car, take hers next time.

Guy was a major doushe!

I even give back change if it's not due.

It always seems like the GUY upstairs or karma has a way of bitch slapping you 10 fold when you do wrong.

Treat others how you expect to be treated, another golden oldie...

[harleypdd]

Sounds reasonable to me, however, I would be a little hot too if I got a door ding. Most people just drive off, it's good to know there are still honest people around.

Thank GOD there was no damage to yours, but as for the ex friend, I would keep it that way!!!!!!

[TekkGuy]

Originally Posted by ljstella

... you are lucky though that he didn't get super serious or anything, like what if he was packing some heat?

I have to admit, that thought didn't even cross my mind...

[Ronn]

I personally would have done the same as you, so I don't think you were in the wrong. You made your deposit in the karma bank, it will come back to you.

[hamidar05]

Man Camaro owners are D**Ks..

Sorry it happened though, and you did do the right thing.. can't say I would have. Especially if it was as small as you say.

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

If I was that guy I would have really appreciated what you did. You absolutely did the right thing. That girl you were with showed who she really is. I would not have anything to do with people like that. Hang in there.

[RPO_Z28]

Originally Posted by jrhaus76

why were you out on a lunch date with you ex if you have a wedding to pay for?

[TekkGuy]

Originally Posted by jrhaus76

why were you out on a lunch date with you ex if you have a wedding to pay for?

It was just a friend, I said (Ex) as in no longer a friend as of this incident today. This was just the last of a series of events that proved to me that she is not a real friend, but someone willing to hang you out to dry.

Originally Posted by d69chris

Spot on dude!

Ex-friend or at least doesn't ride in YOUR car, take hers next time.

Guy was a major doushe!

I even give back change if it's not due.

It always seems like the GUY upstairs or karma has a way of bitch slapping you 10 fold when you do wrong.

Treat others how you expect to be treated, another golden oldie...

No worries about riding in my car anymore, I won't be talking to her any longer. I hear you though, there are times where I wonder is the universe has a twisted sense of humor with the crap that happens to me sometimes.

Originally Posted by harleypdd

Sounds reasonable to me, however, I would be a little hot too if I got a door ding. Most people just drive off, it's good to know there are still honest people around.

Thank GOD there was no damage to yours, but as for the ex friend, I would keep it that way!!!!!!

I always try to think about how I would want things to be if roles were reversed, and I do my best to do the right thing. Glad my car isn't hurt too. And yeah, definatly keeping the "EX" in front of that particular friend.

[skuttduck]

Exactly what kind of ding did it do? Something that PDR would fix?

Something you could buff out real easily?

I've buffed out light surface scratches with Quixx, or Meguires Scratchx.

I suppose if he was being really nasty, I would have agreed to let him call the police. Tell him how you were leaving your information, have a friend who has a body shop and offered to fix the problem.

[fbodfather]

You are a good man.

You did the right thing.

Too many people DON'T do the right thing.

I think your 'friend' is not a friend - and I'd distance myself from anyone with a lack of moral character that says things like ".....other people would have just left..." and "...I'm not going to pay for his stupid dent....."

As to the fellow whose car got dented......

.....I understand how you'd be upset.

Consider this: We don't know what his day was like up to that point - and we don't know that this may have happened more than once before and the other person stiffed him........

You did the right thing. Hopefully he'll not gouge you in terms of price.......

.......and I do believe in Karma..........

God Bless you for being honest -- and respectable.

[GB EB]

You did the right thing. I hope if I ever get a door ding it's from you... and not your ex-friend.
I promise if I ding your car, I'll leave my info.