As we were eating breakfast at a Charlotte Pancake House before starting our 10-hour ride home, Cheryl asked me what my favorite part of the convention was. I had to tell her to wait to ask again when I had finished processing the news delivered moments earlier that a certain person had just incurred a $1900 car repair bill that we had committed to paying on their behalf. She had not stopped and pulled over when her car started to overheat a few weeks earlier and voila - 1900 of our dollars that I would rather have used for 2 round-trip tickets to Ireland later, she's back on the road.
Cheryl kept trying to make me feel better by explaining all the reasons it might have happened or why I shouldn't be upset, all of which were legitimate reasons, but I eventually told her that she'd be better off commiserating with me and feeling my pain than to try to defend what happened. I told her that I was most affected by the fact that I had not been apologized to or thanked for covering it than I was upset by the original mistake. And that is both petty of me and true, so I admit it here as more of a poor reflection on me than any blame toward the person involved.
Hurt feelings aside, the biggest reason I can understand why it happened is that as a teenager, I once ran my VW bug out of oil on rte. 100 on the way home, seizing up the engine, and Cheryl had done something similar at that age. I have a feeling Mom and Dad paid for my repairs, though I don't know for sure. And if they did, I wonder if I ever thanked them or apologized. I have a feeling if I had to pay for it, I'd remember it pretty well.
So...thanks Mom and Dad. I'm SO sorry! You rock and I love you and all you did...are doing for me.
[ I have a feeling if I had to pay for it, I'd remember it pretty well. ]
ReplyDeleteSounds like you SHOULD have paid for it, so the lesson would have been learned better.
I'd be upset too.