March 5th, 2009
Chick-fil-A busted my van window! (But I still love them)
So the 25th was a particular windy day, gorgeous and warm, but very windy. My friend Tracie and I had taken the kids (half of mine and her two) to Chick-fil-A because not only do they have yummy foods and healthy choices, but they have an awesome indoor play area that Matthew loves to pretend is his “tree-house home”. Matthew and Tracie’s oldest daughter were playing inside the play area, and Tracie and I are chatting while our babies shove food in their faces faster than we can break it apart. Sophie’s gaping maw had already hoovered down a chicken strip, two potato slices, 2 pieces of mandarin orange, a slice of apple, three grapes, a strawberry and two heaping spoonfuls of chicken noodle soup (without the soup) that contained carrots, celery, noodles, and chicken. She was happily sucking on a saltine cracker when an employee started asking anyone if they drove a blue Honda. Well, at home I have a dark blue Honda Civic, so when he came to our table I said no… my Honda Odyssey seems more of a silver to me (technically the color is “Slate Green Metallic” but it does not look green at all to me). So when he gets to the next table and asks them if they drive a “Blue Honda minivan I start to think maybe he is talking about me…. and he was.
Seems that he was trying to move, repair, or remove a sign when the wind took it for a ride, sending one of the stakes flying into my windshield of my 1-year-old minivan.
Of course everyone was super professional and the manager came over to apologize. I got a stack of free meals and free ice cream for everyone. They assured me that the damage would be fixed by their insurance company and thanked me for being so cool. Of course why wouldn’t I be?? It was not their fault, it was just a window, and no one was hurt.
The easiest way to fix the damage was just to replace it myself and submit the forms to their insurance company who called me the next day. They would have gladly done the work and paid for it themselves, but I was in a rush for the replacement, but not so much the funds now that we are on the Dave Ramsey plan. So bright and early the next morning I got a pretty new windshield. And since my van could not fit into the garage without and have the doors still accessible, it was a great excuse to rally the kids and get their help re-organizing the garage they had just been paid to clean.
I just got the paperwork notarized and will be mailing it to C-f-A’s insurance company in the morning, and I should have my money back in a week or two. The overall experience has been quite pleasant and I joked that Colorado is bad on cars and in the first year of ownership the Civic had already been painted twice… first because of a wind/sand storm that pitted all my paint and glass. The second time because of hail.
I just hope that Northern Virginia is nicer on my poor cars!!
I forgot the very best part… So when I picked up Austin (age 12) from school, I told him how it happened. Well he suddenly fell very quiet, serious and deep in thought. Finally, when we got home he looked it over a few times and said…”what I don’t get mom, is why they would use steaks to hold up a sign, I mean is steak even heavy enough to hold down a sign, and how did a hunk of meat break your window….?” When I finally caught my breath from laughing so hard, all I could say between fits of laughter was “Austin…. STAKES…. like tent stakes” to which her responded the word he is most famous for.
“Oh”
After the bank I met my friends & their babies for lunch, Sophie, as usual pigged out. She also blew out of her diaper, right after my friend’s baby spilled soup on herself, and both of us forgot to bring a change of clothes. Thankfully, one of our friends had two changes of clothes for her son, and so Sophie and winter had clean clothes. What a mess! I am so glad she’s in cloth, as I remember this happening all. the. time. in paper diapers.
