Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Accidentally speaking

I saw an accident today. I had stopped off to mail our tax stuff and was about to get back into the car when it happened. Further on down the line, a car was pulling into a parking place but swung too wide and hit the car parked next to it. It was a pretty load crunch and it sounded like there was some damage. I watched to see what would happen next.

The driver backed up and tried again, this time successfully pulling into the parking place. I was told by another witness that he actually hit the car in front of him as well, but I didn't see that. The two cars were kissing when I went to look. Anyway, the guy got out and, without a second look, headed into the grocery store. I went over to see the damage; sure enough, the bumper of the volvo that had been hit was hanging half off.

I went into the store to get another look at the guy; when I came out, I saw the owner of the damaged Volvo talking to the other witness. I went over, told the woman that I was the one who left the card, and we chatted for a moment. She went on her way and I headed home.

It amazes me, however, that someone could do that and not own up to it. Mind you, there are a lot of things people do that completely amaze me, but that's another story. Lest you get too upset about the downside of this one, let me offer up a true tale of Honest is the Best Policy.

A few years back (more than a few now, actually), we had a sewer pipe burst. I called a friend of mine, a handyman, to take a look at it. David came over, took a look, and determined pretty quickly that it was a bigger problem than he could handle; I needed a plumbing contractor. He spent the rest of the afternoon calling plumbers he knew to see who could do the job. Unfortunately, everyone he knew was booked solid or out of town on vacation. He assured me, however, that he would find me someone honest to do the job.

We had dinner together and he related stories of dishonest plumbers he had encountered. Afterwards, he headed out, again promising to find us someone to do the work. We said goodbye and I went inside to begin cleaning up. Before I had a chance to get started, however, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, and there stood David. He told me that he had gone to his van, only to discover that someone had driven too close and smashed his mirror. Luckily, they had left a card on the windshield admitting it and promising to pay to have the mirror fixed or replaced.

David said he had turned the card over and there was the name of the person, a plumber. He had found me an honest plumber. Sure enough, we had him do our sewer which turned out to be a $22,000 job (thank goodness for our homeowner's insurance!). He did replace David's mirror, of course, but it was a small price to pay for what turned out to be a very profitable job.

Sometimes, honesty does pay.