The Audacity

On New Years night a gentleman backed into me while we were exiting a parking lot at the airport. It was -9 outside and he was kind of a jerk. Sometimes I believe he did it intentionally but it’s neither here nor there. Fast forward a few months and my truck is in the shop getting fixed.

Here is where the fun begins.

Dropping off my truck, the first thing I’m asked is ‘did you get a rental car?’ I responded in the negative. I proceeded to let the individuals know that since I was backed into, why would I risk being a target for another upset driver and damage yet another car? I’ll call an Uber.

They were aghast! Aghast I tell you!

They looked at me like I either had a horn coming out of my head or was wearing shirt saying “Putin Rocks!” on it. It’s been years since someone has looked at me with such disbelief. Ok well maybe it’s only been a month or so since someone looked at me like that but you get the point.

What leaves me aghast is the fact that insurance companies and car rentals are so quick to give me another car after someone damaged mine. I’ve already damaged one car so you want to give me another one?

Now I live in the Denver metro area and there are plenty of other options for transportation. From ride shares to light rail to buses to my bike to that age old way of transportation…walking. Granted these options are not as convenient or available to everyone especially those who live in small towns like Limon, Colorado or Yakima, Washington. But they do exist in Denver.

I actually contacted State Farm to see if they would reimburse my Uber ride. Yeah right (that’s a no). Apparently it is super difficult to get someone an Uber or Lyft gift card for X amount vs lining up a rental car with another company. I mean it is 2022 after all and the vast majority of people do have those things called smart phones.

My point is, there should be better options for this situation. All State has their own car share service for example. If I am in a wreck wouldn’t it be best to use that? If I live in an urban area such as Denver, why not give me an Uber gift card for x amount of dollars a day where I can use it on car rides or public transit? Is putting yet another carbon emitting car on the road really the answer in my case?

Maybe we’ll get better options one day but until then it’s all delivery all the time suckers!