This woman rear-ends us while we are waiting at a stop light in Knoxville, Tennessee, hitting us about 10-15 mph and causing some severe bumper damage on our 2001 Isuzu Rodeo POS. Both of us make our way onto a Texaco parking lot, where we start to exchange insurance information.
As I had been taught to by the State of Georgia when I learned to drive, I called the police to report the accident, with the dispatcher saying that she would send a unit right over to fill out a report.
However, the woman who hit us did not want to stay for the police, saying it wasn’t necessary, but I insisted - “You hit my car, lady. Our insurance company requires us to fill out a police report, and the best time to do so is at the scene of the accident.” She then got increasingly rude and abusive, and claimed that I was only doing this because I was a “big-shot white guy in a tie” and she was a poor immigrant from India who is being harassed over “nothing”.
The police officer finally arrived to take the report, an African-American male.
Well.
She immediately left our side and went over to him with the same stuff - racist white-guy-in-a-tie (she first used the word (racist) with the cop) keeping poor honest hard-working immigrants and people of color down with our insane insurance reporting requirements. He told her to be quiet, took our statements, looked at the cars, and then went back to his car to call in our tags.
She followed him, and when he was done with his call (and awaiting an answer) she was going on and on and on. He finally got the information he needed and sent us on our way, ticketing her in the process, causing another shitstorm (which we did not stick around to watch).
My wife, who is very conflict-averse, was extremely upset about all this, and it took me a while to calm her down - holding her and giving her a massage is the usual treatment - but she did finally calm down.
An hour later the phone rings. It’s her husband, who started off very quietly and told me their story - they moved to TN in 1968, they’re Christians (a fact constantly repeated), they’re doctors working at one of the local hospitals, etc, and…
“Why did you make my wife wait for the police like a common criminal?”
“I didn’t make your wife wait there like a common criminal, I asked her to stay so we can file a police report.”
“In all the years I’ve been here, I have never been asked to wait for the police - why did you do that? Did you think we weren’t going to be able to pay? I am a Doctor and a Christian.”
“Sir, I was taught that in an accident, especially with serious damage to the vehicles, that one is supposed to wait for the police. In all the accidents I have been in, we have always waited for the police. That’s all it was.”
“But we’re doctors and Christians and you treated my wife horribly.”
“How dare you!? I didn’t treat your wife horribly at all - all I wanted to do was fill out a damn police report!”
“You treated her like a criminal because she is a colored person! And we’re doctors and Christians and we’ve been in this state since 1968…”
“Sir, she ran into me! I didn’t cause this - your wife hit my car! All I did was file a police report as I’m required to do by my insurance company and now you’re calling me, AT MY HOUSE (this part was screamed, ladies and gents) and stating that I’m a racist!”
“But we’ve been in Tennessee since 1968, were raised as Christians in India, …”
“Dammit, what does being a Christian have to do with anything?”
“Well, aren’t you a Christian?”
“No!”
“You’re not a Christian?”
“No! And what does that have to do with anything? Your wife hit my car!”
<5 seconds of silence on his end.>
“I cannot believe you would treat a doctor like this because she has brown skin! I think…”
<interrupting> “Can I ask you a question?”
“… what?”
“Can. I. Ask. You. A. Question?”
“Yes, you may.”
“Would you have called me at my house, accusing me of racism, if I were black?”
“…”
“Hello? Can you answer the question? Would you have called me at my house, accusing me of racism, if I were black?”
“… No.” At least he was honest.
“So you’re using the color of my skin to prejudge me as a racist. Doesn’t that make you as much of a racist as you’re accusing me of being?”
<click>
I hang up the phone: fuck the guy - I’m getting the last word in this.
He calls back - it’s gotta be him because our home phone rings maybe twice a month.
He actually apologizes. Said he was sorry and ashamed of himself, that he lost his head. He terribly misjudged me, thought I was like all the “other people” who have given him a hard time since 1968, etc etc etc. I accept his apologies and got off the phone as soon as possible.
WTF?!?
over that one.
