<h3>Once Bitten, Twice Gobbled</h3>

It's been a while I know. But I have lotsa stories. So that should more than make up for it hopefully. Early last Wednesday morning, The Don parked our Lancerlot in front of Vista Point and left to get something at the shops while I stayed in the car and caught some quick shut eye. I was rudely awakened by a loud sound and a bang to the car. The minibus that was parked in front of us apparently reversed right into our lancerlot. I got out of the car and so did the minibus driver, an elderly Malay man. But didn't say a word coz I wanted to see the damage first. The towing hook (if thats what it's called) of the minibus has banged into the front of our lancerlot leaving a dent just above the vehicle plate number. "Ok" I thought. "Not as bad as I thought" But the pakcik just had to open his mouth and said "Kenapa awak park dekat sangat dengan van saya? Saya tak boleh nampak kereta awak"


That did it. I didn't want to say anything to that evil evil pakcik so I whipped out my phone and in my most urgent of voices told The Don to hurry up. The pakcik seeing I was seething with anger, tried to say that his brother in law has a motor workshop and we could send it to him for free. I didn't bother to make small talk with him and told him to wait for my husband. When The Don arrived and inspected the damage, the first thing he said to me was "Get the digicam" and the pakcik's face turned ashen white. While The Don was clicking away, the pakcik tried all means and ways to persuade The Don to go to his brother-in-law's workshop. He even dialled for his brother-in-law and tried to get The Don to speak to him. The Don said "Takpe Pakcik saya ade workshop saya sendiri. Pakcik tulis nama, alamat, IC no dengan contact number pakcik kat sini", handing him a piece ofpaper and a pen. I thought the pakcik's face was as white as it could be already but at that remark he turned whiter.


Evidently not able to persuade, he tried threatening. Saya bukan nak ape. Saya nak nasihat saje (sic!) Kereta awak baru kalau awak claim insurance nanti awak kena bayar teruk. Van saya van lama. Awak belum tahu lagi insurance macam mana"
The Don and I seriously wanted to laugh when he said that. He was obviously messing with the wrong person. I am working in a law firm dealing almost especially in motor insurance claim. I personally know the owners of the top motor workshops in Singapore, and they are at my beck and call. And since The Don handles all their IT matters, he is on good terms with all of them as well. And judging from the situation of the accident, we were free from liability 100%. We could see beads of desperation on the pakcik's face.

Not one to push more than he should, The Don said nicely to the pakcik Ok lah macam gini pakcik. Saya hantar pada workshop saya. Biar diorang assess brapa damages lepas tu pakcik bayar saya saje tak payah report insurance

"Ok. ok. ok. Macam gitu lagi bagus. Jadi saya pun tak teruk. Terima kasih. terima kasih." The next day, he came by our house to hand over the money for the repair.

If that was not enough, the very next day, The Don picked me up at the office for lunch and we were along Liang Seah Street when we got into another accident. This time we were not so lucky. We had just turned into Liang Seah Street and there was this red Hyundai Van in front of us.If you had been there you'd know that the road is a one-way road and very narrow and that cars are usually parked along both sides of the road.

The driver of the red van stopped in the middle of the road so we too had to stop behind him. At first we thought he wanted to park in the empty lot on our left but he did not have his turning indicator or is reverse light on so we thought he stopped probably to drop someone off. The Don overtook him on the left and proceeded to drive slowly. As we were almost 70% beyond his vehicle, he suddenly reversed, scraping against the back door of our Lancerlot. The Don and I both swore out loud.


This time, the guy and The Don exchanged harsh words for the first few seconds. By the time they exchanged particulars, both men were quite civil. I got out to inspect the damages. There was a long streak of red paint on the back door and rear area of the Lancerlot. And many many scratches. But luckily no dent.

Of course, the first person The Don called was one of the motor workshops for whom my firm handle their legal matters. And the rest as they say is history. Next week, the Lancerlot will be given a fresh coat of spray and the bill will be sent to the stupid red van's insurance.

Maybe the car as well as the owners have been overworked due to the constant travelling or maybe its just a series of bad luck. Whatever it is, let's just hope it stops there. Once Bitten, Twice Gobbled. No thrice please.