Hey GEICO-I’m done

I was looking forward to this past Monday. I had plans with my BFF since middle school for dinner with our husbands at a place called The Cove, one of my favorites. Best fish tacos not made in Mexico.

Had just left work, headed home. Sitting at a traffic light on George St in York. I was checking out the vintage Jeep dealership looking for “Jeeps: Wanted Dead or Alive” when a gray blur sideswiped my Buick. It braked and then jammed the gas scooting onto Woodland Ave, a little side street.

I was like WTH? I looked in my mirror and traffic was still stopped, so I jumped lanes and chased the car. It was a Honda Accord. I dialed 911 as the Accord ran the stop sign. I stopped, let a car from each direction pass, and continued pursing. When the car got to Susquehanna Trail it couldn’t keep racing. Traffic was at a stand still. This is the first time in York I was happy to see traffic backed up.

I laid on the horn like I was kneading bread. Screaming to pull over and jabbing my finger towards the side of the road. I was already talking to 911, so somewhere there is a recording of Pattie on a Mission for Justice. Finally, a hand was raised in surrender and once traffic moved, the car turned into Rutter’s Farm Store.

The car parked and I pulled in beside. I now saw it was a him. A young, black him I later learned was named Mark. I opened my car door and the bottom panels of the front and back doors fell off. Something in my already pumped up brain exploded. I started screaming at him asking why he ran after hitting me. He said he didn’t hit me. I said “Are you serious? Look at your car!!!” He looked at his car and said, “I mean I didn’t know I hit you.” I responded, “Bull crap (yes, I said crap, even irate, I managed not to swear at this guy) you had to have felt that and then you ran!”

“I didn’t run!” he didn’t bother to yell, just kind of stating what no one, especially me, believed, with not quite even a full voice. At this point, people were now watching/listening to me verbally bombard this guy. His car was still running and he walked into Rutter’s. I remembered I’m on the phone with 911 and told the operator what’s going on. She had me give her his license plate number in case he decided to try and run out and take off again. We hung up and a few minutes later my phone rang again. Apparently he hit another car also. Eventually we had 3 police cars and the 3 cars involved in the accident all in the Rutter’s lot. I’m sure they were thrilled.

Mark didn’t have insurance cards. Mark did have a driver’s license, but it was suspended. Mark was on drugs and didn’t pass the sobriety test. Mark was on his way to pick up a child at daycare when he hit two cars and decided to make a run for it. Maybe Mark really was that drugged up he didn’t know he hit two cars, either way, Mark is in a lot of trouble because he’s already on probation. Mark gets to live at the gray bar hotel for a minimum of two years according to Mark’s pregnant girlfriend, Erica.

So Erica co-signed for Mark’s car. The insurance policy was hers that lapsed according to GEICO. She says they cancelled it because they found out he was driving. I guess why it was cancelled doesn’t matter because GEICO says sorry, can’t cover this accident. I said what about the uninsured driver insurance I pay for every month? That’s just if I get seriously injured, it would cover my medical bills. So had my arm been hanging out the window and Mark chopped it right off, they’d pay for those bills. But not door panels and a mirror. So GEICO, thanks for never explaining that.

Hello State Farm,

I will now give you my money and hope I never need your services.

Thank you,

Pattie

PS: Erica stated in a text she would try to work something out. I am keeping that text in hopes she sticks to her word.

PSS: And if she doesn’t, oh well. No use crying over old cars. No one was hurt.