Ryan McFarland

I drive my own vehicle for work. I get an extra $100 per month to do it. That’s a lot less than it would be for the City to buy another rig for me to drive. Yesterday afternoon i went up to the ball fields and opened up a crate of signs that were paid for with a grant. The packing slip said the signs weighed a total of 260 pounds. I loaded them up in my car to show some of the other people that helped out with the grant. When i turned up a steep hill downtown the load shifted and blew out the back window of my car.

Glass everywhere. I pulled over, smiled and shrugged at the driver of the car that had been 30 feet behind me and then i drove home. I called the police to tell them about the glass and that i would be returning to clean it up. I grabbed my shop-vac and cleared the signs and the back of my car the best that i could. Then i threw a shovel, broom, and plastic tote in the open back window and swept the street clean. I took the panels the the pool and while unloading them realized that the city has a post-accident policy that might apply to me and the situation. I’m a city employee and was on-duty and an accident resulting in damage occurred. So i went downtown and we decided that it is better to have myself covered in case someone (like someone that reads this) thinks i received some preferential treatment. The decision was in the City Manager’s hands but he was not present.

So i spent from 4-5 PM at the hospital taking a breathalyser and peeing in a cup. Then of course the paperwork and everything. It is kind of funny to have someone that you’re on a first-name basis with ask for your ID. But once again, nobody can say i was treated any differently. (Although i bet most post-accident drug tests don’t start off with the technician saying “You don’t drive a city truck!”)

Since i have the minimum insurance possible i’m certain that i i’ll be paying for this out of my pocket. I’m not really looking forward to that bill. Maybe it is time for me to buy a motorcycle. Then i can still do the primary stuff that i need to do for work — going through parks — but i can’t load up 250 pounds of anything on it. I probably could save a lot of money. I’d still end up having to get Motorbike Insurance. I wouldn’t be paying for broken windows. And gas would probably be less expensive.  Just kidding.  A motorcycle would be completely unpractical here.