For Sale

Recently remodeled 1996 Saturn.







The Rest of the Story (As requested by Bou in the comments):

I have learned a valuable lesson. It took it happening twice to learn it but I think I have the bigger picture now. DON'T EVER PAY OFF A VEHICLE, GO ON VACATION AND LEAVE SAID VEHICLE WITH YOUR TEENAGER.

In April of 2005, I paid off my Explorer and went to see my Sweetie in the Bahamas. I received a call from Improviser the first night of my trip. "Mom, I got your car stolen."

The Saturn pictured above was my replacement car. It was a definite downgrade in regards to space but was a good reliable little car. I paid off the Saturn in May of this year. I made the mistake of leaving my car with Chowhound this time. I went on a cruise to Cozumel with my Sweetie. I called Chowhound Monday afternoon from the Ft. Lauderdale airport to confirm what time he was to pick me up. I know he had been dreading that phone call all day long. He wrecked it that morning. No one else was involved in the accident and he wasn't hurt.

Now....for the rest of the story.

Chowhound is usually a responsible young man. He is only 6 months from his eighteenth birthday. He has causally watched as his two older brothers pulled the antics. Improviser getting the Explorer stolen and Daredevil continually trying his mother's patience by sneaking out to his underage girlfriend's house. I didn't realize he was taking notes and just waiting for an opportunity to tarnish his image. Since, he is usually responsible his Dad didn't not make him stay with him overnight while I was gone. This proved to be a big mistake. Chowhound's girlfriend snuck out of her house Sunday night. He picked her up and they went back to my house. He took her home sometime around 4am and fell asleep on the way back to my house. He woke up when the car veered into the grass in median. Startled, sleepy and inexperienced at driving, he over corrected and went into a spin. It is just speculation as to what happened at some points. He said he just hit a hole next to a drainage grate. But, the damage on the car doesn't fit that. There is a very distinct roundness and white scrapes on the front. I think he may have hit a concrete pole that was nearby and the speed and spin of the car just ricocheted him around it. It was 5am. Both airbags deployed and the vehicle was filled with the smoke from the airbags. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt so he was bouncing around inside the car. He was very fortunate that he wasn't hurt and I didn't kill him.

The thing that gets me is that the parents of the girls my boys date do not know what their daughters are doing. I am always the one who catches them. Am I the only parent who checks on their teenager in the middle of the night. I get up frequently to pee so I do bed checks while I am up. I have done this since they were born. It is habit and I go back to sleep better knowing my children are alright.

I had a talk with Chowhound's girlfriend. I told her I would not tell her parents THIS TIME but if she ever snuck out again I would march in and rat her out in a heartbeat. I did my calm mother speech and read both of them the riot act. She told Chowhound that was the first time she had ever cried while she wasn't getting yelled at. It's been an expensive lesson.