We are all fine!! ❤
I am SO THANKFUL that our first accident in the bus wasn’t our fault!!
For Dekker’s last day of school, we decided to give him the freedom to choose supper. Within reason, we told him he could pick just about anything he wanted. We listed off a number of meals we know he loves, some meals that are a tad more complicated and less common, and we even offered to go pick up some food, if we didn’t have what he wanted. And the kid picked hot dogs. Of all things. We have hot dogs ALL the time. We gave him some time to think twice, but he was convinced. Hot dogs it is! Brady and I were hoping he’d pick something a bit more special, so instead we offered to drive for donuts! He happily accepted, so we headed off to a nearby town to find some treats.
Dekker and I headed into the Co-op together and he picked out a package of donuts. The donuts from Co-op are SO good, guys! We came back out to the van, closed ourselves inside, and were talking about what we picked when there was a loud sound and a big bump.
I looked in the big truck mirror and sure enough, someone was trying to drive into the spot besides ours and suuuper misjudged how close they were, and basically drove into the back corner of our van. Brady went out right away, and the woman in the car threw her hand sup , as if annoyed that he was there at all.
So here’s what happened.
We all know we drive a bus. The back doors occasionally get caught in the wind and whip further open than expected, and they slam into the side of the bus if we don’t catch them in time. If we want them open ALL the way like that, there is a magnet on the very back side of the van that will hold the doors to the sides. The magnet also doubles as a bumper for if the doors do whip open like that. That was a pretty jumbled explanation :/ It kind of looks like a door stopped on the back/side of the van. This person had driven square into the one bumper, and the magnet was halfway out.
Now, really, its a small-ish problem, but unfortunately, our vehicle isn’t even close to a junker, and we NEED it to last. The bumper magnet will definitely need replacing, so rather than doing it out of pocket down the line when it inevitably pops all the way out, we agreed we’d need to file a claim. This was an obvious choice for us, but a bummer for her, as she mentioned it was actually her ex’s car. So that’s awkward.
She and Brady exchanged information, and she was very apologetic the entire time. All was fine, no one was hurt or too upset, and we both had minimal damage. She barely had a scratch, and she legit just hit the back corner bumper. I don’t even think the body took a hit. JUST the magnet thing. So for a first ding on the bus, it was fairly painless.
Thats what we get for eating donuts, I suppose… 🍩 Worth it.