Typical luck

You know, waking up this morning, I thought today was going to be a good day. My mom and I were planning on checking out a Polish store (I met a Polish woman yesterday at work; she recommended the store) then going to the gym. I also wanted to go exchange a pair of pants mom bought me at Ross for a smaller size before heading to Starbucks for my favorite grande iced sugar-free hazelnut latte with soy milk. But you know my luck.

Around noon, I was sitting in front of the television, ready and dressed with my hair freshly washed as my eyes intently watching a soap opera like I was hooked on crack. Actually, I wasn't that intr-holy shit! Does my dad really have to burst in on me like that! I almost had a heart attack! Okay, as I was saying, I wasn't that interested. I was halfway down the road towards boredom as the actors doled out the typical cheesy lines. My mom was sitting on the couch next the one I was sitting on when the phone rang. She got up, made her way into the kitchen, and as soon as I heard her shriek, "WHAT?!" in English with her heavy Polish accent, I knew something was wrong.

It turns out that my dad got in a car accident. He was stopped at a red light when some idiot didn't stop fast enough and rear-ended him. It pushed dad's Nissan Maxima into the truck in front of him and you know what the ironic part is? His was the only car that had to be towed from the scene of the accident. The other cars involved, including the one that read-ended my dad, drove away with barely a dent on their bumpers. The Nissan is currently parked on our driveway with the trunk and front pushed as if it were a giant abused coke can. My dad got out of it okay. Nothing major. He went to the hospital later and the doctors diagnosed him with strained neck muscles. My mom seems to be doing worse than he, however. She's been moping all day and groaning about the the $3,000 from her 401K that she gave my dad to fix the car. Another ironic point is the fact that the car was ready to be sold off and my dad was driving it to be smog-checked and registered at the DMV. So not only did my dad get a $1,000 ticket for no registration and no proof of insurance, but the car is only good for scrap metal and $3,000 have gone down the drain.

My dad is self-employed, making just enough money for the month to month bills with his car repair "business" he wandered into after he got laid off in 2001. You have no idea how many people have refused to give him work, preferring some snot-nosed recent college graduate instead. He's only fifty-three for Christ sake. They make him sound like a geriatric who can't make it up the stairs without clutching his heart.

Meanwhile, my mom has been sitting at the home for the past three months (since moving here) waiting until the employment agency would set her up with a job. The hospitals in the area have all given her the usual, "We have your application. Our manager will call you." The agency never calls her back and she usually has to call herself just to get an update. She got a job, apparently, but she's waiting until "they" send the confirmation for a computer class she took to get the job.

Don't get me wrong. I'm being optimistic. I call only laugh at this entire situation because things like this seem to happen to my family in waves. No matter how much we try, life seems to serve us shit on a silver platter. We have had more than our share of bad things. When will we get our share of good things?

Several short thoughts: Can I get malaria pills over the counter? I hate Bush. My hair looks horrible when I curl it outwards. I hate pop corn kernels when their shells get stuck in my gums. Never buy Asian-made cars; they're flimsy pieces of crap. I finally took four rolls of film to be developed. Las Vegas people can't drive... at all.