Prepare for the worst, hope for the best
After getting home from the museum today, I found that a letter from Prince George's County, MD Police Department was sitting in my box. Upon opening it, I learned that my car has actually been found. It was recovered last Thursday (and what, they couldn't call me?) and is sitting waiting for me at the towing facility. Ecstatic, I called the non-emergency police number that was provided on my form. The officer walked me through what exactly I needed to do, which seemed not so bad. Go to the station, fill out a form, take the form to the towing facility, and ta da! My car is mine again!
If only things were that simple, and if only they were that magical. This is more like what is really going to go down...
-- Somehow get to the ghetto shithole where the police station is located. Think of the worst part of DC, and magnify like 10 times. That, my friends, is Prince George's County, Maryland. I think my journey across the river will require me to take the metro to the end of the line, and pray I find a cab to the police station.
-- Once I fill out my Vehicle Release Form, I have to make a copy of it on my own (cause...they can't make a copy for me) so I can present it to the towing company. Oh, and I have to bring like 50 forms of ID and proof of ownership.
-- Hoping that Kinkos has a nice shop set-up in the ghetto on the off-chance someone like me needs to make copies, I get to then somehow find a way over to the towing company. But the towing place is only open during business hours, so I'll have to do it sometime during the day. And how will I get over there? Pray for another cab?
-- Once I make it over there, I get to asses what condition my car is in. Since the PG County police couldn't tell me, that'll be the next surprise. Will windows be broken? Will it need more gas? Will it have bullet holes in it cause it was used in a drive-by? Will I find a dead body in the back? Who knows! It's like Halloween: I don't know what trick to expect.
-- So once I asses how bad of a condition it's in, I then get to pay the lovely tow truck driver however much it's cost to tow the car and impound it for a week. Now, that handy release form that I'll supposedly make a copy of will tell me that I can fill out another form and go to court to argue the fees I'll have to pay. For you see, if a car is involved with a theft, all fees accrued can be reimbursed. I just have to pay out of pocket, and in theory, they'll reimburse me.
So I get to do this all tomorrow, cause if I wait any longer, the fees will just keep adding up. And if this wasn't enough of a headache, I get to do this all by myself. Cause while I've had a lot of support and sympathy, it ultimately comes down to my dirty mess. I am the one who has to clean it up, tie up the loose ends, even though I did nothing to bring this on. So while I'm sure my friends will offer to bring me on the weekend, I have to do this tomorrow or else risk throwing away more money. And while you all can offer your sympathy, it ultimately boils down to me having to do this all by myself. I may have your emotional support, but no one is available to physically go with me to pick it up. And you know what? I'm tired of doing everything by myself. I'm tired of having to defend myself. Since moving here, I've had to fight for a stable living situation. I went on countless interviews to find a job. The list goes on. I'm tired of having to fight my insurance when they forget to pay my dentist bill. I've had to fight for so much. And while they say that nothing worth having comes easy, that you have to fight for what truly matters, do I have to fight to maintain everything? Do I have to fight for EVERYTHING? I'm tired of fighting, of tying up loose ends, of throwing money down the drain to fix needless, unnecessary problems. And I'm tired of doing it alone. I know that once this is all over with, when my pocket book and savings can recover from the sudden expenses, I'll feel pretty badass about this. That I can handle a major crisis alone. It goes to prove that, once again, I can handle anything. But I already know that I can handle anything that comes my way. So why must I CONTINUALLY do it alone? When do I get my break? Cause I'm really tired of going it alone.
So, here's hoping my car isn't too badly damaged, and that the recovery fees aren't as bad as I expect.
If only things were that simple, and if only they were that magical. This is more like what is really going to go down...
-- Somehow get to the ghetto shithole where the police station is located. Think of the worst part of DC, and magnify like 10 times. That, my friends, is Prince George's County, Maryland. I think my journey across the river will require me to take the metro to the end of the line, and pray I find a cab to the police station.
-- Once I fill out my Vehicle Release Form, I have to make a copy of it on my own (cause...they can't make a copy for me) so I can present it to the towing company. Oh, and I have to bring like 50 forms of ID and proof of ownership.
-- Hoping that Kinkos has a nice shop set-up in the ghetto on the off-chance someone like me needs to make copies, I get to then somehow find a way over to the towing company. But the towing place is only open during business hours, so I'll have to do it sometime during the day. And how will I get over there? Pray for another cab?
-- Once I make it over there, I get to asses what condition my car is in. Since the PG County police couldn't tell me, that'll be the next surprise. Will windows be broken? Will it need more gas? Will it have bullet holes in it cause it was used in a drive-by? Will I find a dead body in the back? Who knows! It's like Halloween: I don't know what trick to expect.
-- So once I asses how bad of a condition it's in, I then get to pay the lovely tow truck driver however much it's cost to tow the car and impound it for a week. Now, that handy release form that I'll supposedly make a copy of will tell me that I can fill out another form and go to court to argue the fees I'll have to pay. For you see, if a car is involved with a theft, all fees accrued can be reimbursed. I just have to pay out of pocket, and in theory, they'll reimburse me.
So I get to do this all tomorrow, cause if I wait any longer, the fees will just keep adding up. And if this wasn't enough of a headache, I get to do this all by myself. Cause while I've had a lot of support and sympathy, it ultimately comes down to my dirty mess. I am the one who has to clean it up, tie up the loose ends, even though I did nothing to bring this on. So while I'm sure my friends will offer to bring me on the weekend, I have to do this tomorrow or else risk throwing away more money. And while you all can offer your sympathy, it ultimately boils down to me having to do this all by myself. I may have your emotional support, but no one is available to physically go with me to pick it up. And you know what? I'm tired of doing everything by myself. I'm tired of having to defend myself. Since moving here, I've had to fight for a stable living situation. I went on countless interviews to find a job. The list goes on. I'm tired of having to fight my insurance when they forget to pay my dentist bill. I've had to fight for so much. And while they say that nothing worth having comes easy, that you have to fight for what truly matters, do I have to fight to maintain everything? Do I have to fight for EVERYTHING? I'm tired of fighting, of tying up loose ends, of throwing money down the drain to fix needless, unnecessary problems. And I'm tired of doing it alone. I know that once this is all over with, when my pocket book and savings can recover from the sudden expenses, I'll feel pretty badass about this. That I can handle a major crisis alone. It goes to prove that, once again, I can handle anything. But I already know that I can handle anything that comes my way. So why must I CONTINUALLY do it alone? When do I get my break? Cause I'm really tired of going it alone.
So, here's hoping my car isn't too badly damaged, and that the recovery fees aren't as bad as I expect.