Let me share what is really going on. That "Not nice" post - yes, it really happend. Yes, it really bothered me. Yes, I would react the same way in other circumstances. The first time I saw Network, it really spoke to me. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.
In addition to having trouble getting excessive junk mail from Charter and AT&T and dealing with poor customer service and questionable business practices from myriad other companies, I also have been living in two cities for nearly a year.
I rarely wake up knowing if I am in Birmingham or Auburn. (In my defense, I also have very vivid, very possible dreams and I can sleep pretty hard, especially in the hour or so before starting to wake up.)
I want to live in Auburn. Legally, I am a resident of Auburn. The air is fresh, the people are nice, and I just feel normal when I am in Auburn. (I'm not sure which word - here or there - is appropriate. That's how confused I am.)
In Birmingham, I have to fight traffic to go anywhere. Slow drivers, impatient drivers, unaware drivers. It's really stressful. I don't know what's so complicated about the speed limit being, generally speaking, 30 in residential areas, 40 on small highways/major roads primarily zoned for commercial purposes, and 55 on the highway. I pretty much avoid the interstate at all costs. Stop signs mean stop, therefore, lack of stop signs mean to proceed. Green lights mean continue, yellow means get ready to stop, red means stop.
Just over two years ago, my favorite car ever was totaled. I was in a McDonald's drive-thru (because I was so busy it was "now or never" to get lunch, and it was the best available option), was at the window and had just gotten my drink, when I heard tires squealing and metal clanging. I looked in my rearview mirrow to see this car come around the building, and I watched until it was about to hit me, at which point, I started praying, and prepared myself for the worst. My car was pinned against the building by the car that hit me. I had moved a couple of feet forward. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. I had just bought my first home earlier in the week, and was distracted with other, more serious problems, which I can't talk about because some people would be very angry with me. So, scared, stunned, distracted, dazed, shocked, etc. me just kind of doesn't react to the situation. I was the last person to be interviewed by the police, I was the last person involved in the accident to be towed, and I never got to eat my lunch because it got cold by the time I was able to. I was covered in shards of glass and Coke. I had not had a chance to shower before I left the house because I hadn't gotten my gas turned on yet and was out of what was left of the hot water in the tank.
Of course, the person who hit me did not have insurance. They didn't even have a drivers license. And, of course, it wasn't even their car they were driving.
I did have insurance, so my insurance company took care of me. But the thing is, I couldn't buy a car that was equal to mine prior to it being totaled.
