Another Taste of Driving...

Well today I was out driving with the boys and one errand required a u-turn. Like most u-turns I've taken our car is too big to make it in one turn. It usually takes about a 2-3 point turn to manuver it--meanwhile there's oncoming traffic honking at you, motorcycles whizzing by and people turning behind you. It's an intense few seconds:) Well on this 2 point turn(due to a parked car on the side of the road) which was onto a 3 lane major road, I didn't realize that there was a car close behind me. When I backed up I hit them. I was so bummed for many reasons...1) my big SUV is sure to hurt the smaller compact car I ran into 2) Being a white person, you have no idea what to expect when dealing with the law here 3) I really didn't want to have to sit there for an hour while the police came with 3 tired kids in back and an angry family in the other car 4) I had fresh chicken that needed to get to the fridge!:)
So I pulled over and waited for the other car to do the same. As they passed me I saw the dent, which had taken off paint, on the left side. The passenger/wife got out of the car to assess the damage. As I was waiting for her to walk to my window to get my contact info she just got back in the car and they drove off! I couldn't believe it! In the states it would have been a sure insurance report--especially with missing paint! Granted they could have already had the scratch--but they could have easily claimed that i did it and gotten it fixed for free.
One great thing about driving here is people EXPECT their cars to get messed up. It's a given that your car will gets scratches, dents, dirt, lost hubcaps, etc. The few times I've seen Mercedes around town I just laugh--it's impossible for a nice car to stay nice.
So needless to say I was thanking Jesus! It could have been a really long day!