Alexander's no good very bad day (with some retail therapy with good friends)

The Sunday started off well enough.

I woke up early and went to the gym where I cardio-ed and went to yoga, which I haven't done on Sunday mornings in a long time. I think I was a little out of shape for it, to be honest, because I wasn't feeling the flow but I still enjoyed seeing a lot of the regulars that I haven't been around for a while. Athletic tai chi dude with the orange/yellow mat. Spiritual yogi master ala toned granny Sheri who just radiates love and energy with the orange mat. The decidely sexy mom ( she has a body that rivals 20 year olds and has a nerdy son my age) Maggie who is a salsa dancing, yoga master who is my second teacher, who always corrects me and teaches me new things (Hello kitty mat). Jenson the wirey skinny grandpa guy who can school me in yoga who I have awkward conversations in the locker room, only because he's not as fluent in english and I'm not fluent in Chinese, with the dark blue mat. 

(Just writing these descriptions makes me want to write a post about my yoga community here. I've seen and yoga'd with the same people for so long now that we've definitely become friends or at least frequent acquaintances) Yoga, even at 24 Fitness, definitely connects people of all walks of life. 

Something weird happened after yoga though. One of the old asian ahjumma's who I find really annoying (she played her ipod on MAX volume in class once and it was clearly audible across the room and ignored polite requests to turn it down) was attempting a handstand, right after class, and fell. Her heel smashed the mirror in front of her and glass sprayed all over. Luckily, she was completely uninjured but the mirror was pretty much totalled. That's happened before at the Walnut 24 but this was the first time I actually witnessed it. Out of the ordinary, considering this ahjumma does the handstand every single time. 

Blatant FORESHADOWING that Alex ignored! (I'm going to be superstitious after this day) MIRROR BROKEN. 

After lunch at my grandma's, I drove to pick up Thuyet, Julie, and Lusha from Julie's house because we were going to go outlet shopping at Ontario Mills.

Little did I know that today of all days I was going to get into my first car accident. 

My poor baby, Creeper :(

Blogger wouldn't upload a photoshopped picture to hide my License plate so... fail editing it is.

I'm really blessed that no one was hurt and only my car was slightly damaged. There was no need for police or insurance and the other party was actually a very nice completely fluent in english, married to a tall white guy, asian lady. So... this is what happened:

I was exiting the 10 off Atlantic and stopped at the stop sign before merging onto Atlantic itself. I checked over my left shoulder for oncoming traffic and pushed my gas pedal. EXCEPT there was still a Toyota 4 runner in front of me and I bumped/nudged it (since I was already stopped). So it was totally my fault and I just sat there in shock. The driver in front put on her emergency blinkers and just walked outside to take pictures of my license plate. I took out my insurance info, and even though it was my first accident ever, I think I was remarkably calm. Anyway, this lady and I basically halted traffic on the onramp and I kept asking her if we could move to an offstreet. (I think she assumed I was a hooligan who would try to hit and run).

Anyway, after a few minutes, we do just that- move to an offstreet. We both get out and luckily it wasn't bad at all. Because my Prius is so low, the truck hitch was the only part that made contact with my car, so her car was not damaged in the slightest. My car just had something pop out (as seen in the pictures) with an inch long crack radiating from above and below. 

I thought I'd get a hysterical asian lady who'd just yell at me the whole time. But Ms. Tang was remarkably calm and nice about it. She'd been through a hit and run before a knew what to do and since nothing happened to her car, the only irritation she had was that she was busy and she didn't want to wait for the slow cops to come. I think she's a third generation chinese family because she had no accent whatsoever and said she grew up in Rosemead. Anyway, while we waited for the police to arrive for an official police report, she and I basically exchanged information and she told me stories about her previous traffic accidents. If I wasn't shaking from the fact that I had just gotten into an accident, I think it would be like any other day. She even asked if I wanted her husband to take a look at my car and give me an estimate since he works at a body shop. (That was a little awkward)

After a while, she got tired of waiting and called the police again to see how long they would take (and told me how she bet a pair were sitting at Starbucks down the street and taking their "sweet ass time" while earning their salary). We didn't want to wait anymore so we decided to just drive down to the Alhambra station and just file one in person. (We also got a witness named Jose, ex cop, who saw the whole thing while waving one of those signs) 

I didn't know this but apparently the police only come to make sure you switch you insurance and contact information and to file a report incase there is a dispute about what happened. If no one was hurt, it's unnecessary to do all that official business. But anyway, we both drive to the station and a nice officer came out and told us that we didn't really need to do anything. I didn't even need to call my insurance and would just have to take care of my own car out of my pocket, if I wanted to. Apparently you want to get insurance involved right away if someone is going to wake up the next morning and complain of injuries. (Also, the officer even told me that he had made the same mistake and hit someone the exact same way at the exact same stop sign... they should do something about that stop sign).

So... after this whole ordeal that took two hours out of my life, that left me jittery and took away all my confidence in my very safe driver history, I left the police station (first time in one of those too) and me and Mrs. Tang shook hands, saying that it was nice to meet each other despite the circumstances. She also plugged her husband again but kept saying it's a decision for me and my parents to make. 

Once again, thank goodness it was a very small accident. And that very nice and calm people were involved. And I'm never listening to "Pimpin' All Over the World" (dang you song, perhaps I was too preoccupied singing you and not in all my facilities!!) or exiting off the Atlantic exit again. 

After this, I still decided to drive to Julie's, since I already texted them that I got into a minor accident and didn't say anything else besides that I was safe. Mind you, I drove slowly, with no air on or music- no possible distractions at all. I swear, even the places I drive to everyday, now I am so scared of doing anything reckless or wrong. Confidence = GONE. 

When I got to Julie's, I decided I'd still be down to go shopping at Ontario Mills, and I still drove. I think I was still too shaken and slightly shocked to make any intelligent decisions. And I really wanted to buy clothes. Like I haven't bought myself anything besides pants in a year. 

So we embarked on a retail therapy shopping adventure where my credit card weeped and weeped from being manhandled. Shirts, workout shirts, more shirts. I think I went a little too crazy but... I needed to be a part of the economic recovery everyone's talking about. It helped to have Lusha, Thuyet, and Julie there too since every time we hang out, I have a good time (though often times, I had good quality friend time with Lusha since Thuyet and Julie wandered and we left them to their own devices). I swear those two are approaching gross honeymoon status that makes me want to barf rainbows and weep rosewater. (but are very much aww inspiring cute)

That afternoon to nighttime, I think we created a lot of inside jokes. One of us doesn't know how to make cow noises. Another can't pronounce marinara or chick filet. One of us takes a reallllllllyyy long time deciding on sunglasses and has this indescribable hatred for the Gap. Another one of us is a handsome tall asian gentleman. (any hints which one is me? I also have this affinity for anything with pockets. And hang hangers from my ears.) And "cool story bro" is going to be used in this group for a long time now, much to Thuyet's detriment. 

I'm glad I got to take the rest of afternoon and night off and collect myself from the shock of the afternoon. Sure I was worried about being killed by my parents (who I called and kept them informed each step of the way) and about being a bad driver but at Ontario Mills, I was mostly worried about being tired and being a shopaholic. And worried about wanting shoes. AKA I was myself. 

So at the end of the day, the end of Alexander's no good very bad day ( and after some retail therapy with good friends, Alexander's no good kinda bad day but way better night), I drove home less shaken, at the speed limit of 65, feeling good about my purchases, happy I had some friends to entertain me during a tough experience. 

(But I really hope they don't think I'm a bad driver now)