Oldest Son had driven Husband, Youngest Son and me to Village Burger Bar to meet up with friends and have a late dinner. We returned home and as we exited Oldest Son's car, Husband noticed the front right side of Oldest Son's Mitsubishi showed signs of a minor collision. Upon closer inspection, there appeared to be no dents (yeah for that!) but some paint damage with white streaks on the silver paint and additional paint chipping.
Husband and I looked at Oldest Son with shock since he had not mentioned that any kind of accident had occurred. Oldest Son shared with us that he had scraped his car along the white pole of the basketball goal in our driveway. So now Oldest Son had the double whammy: carelessness while driving his vehicle and then not telling his parents immediately.
Inquiries as to why he did not tell us met with the typical teen response "I don't know." Obviously, we were going to find out because the evidence was sitting right in the drive way. Oy vey!
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| The pesky white pole that got in Oldest Son's way. |
Saturday Evening - The Consequences and The Talk
On Saturday evening we sat down with Oldest Son to go through the two sets of consequences. First he will be required to purchase supplies to buff out the damage and apply touch-up paint. Hopefully, the repairs can be done by Oldest Son without expensive body work from a shop. The next ramification is for the illogical choice of not telling Husband and me the damage occurred. We consider taking away his car but decided for this first offense he will be accountable for getting up early this week to take Youngest Son to school daily and he will be responsible for bringing him home as well. He knows the next situation will result in the loss of his automobile. Husband and I delivered the usual speeches to Oldest Son about his safety and the safety of others while operating a moving vehicle and the loss of trust when he does not tell us when stuff happens, etc. Oldest Son handled all calmly and maturely.
Saturday Night - 10 Minutes Later - The Twist
When we, the parents, finished lecturing Oldest Son, he went back to his never ending homework and Husband left to make a quick run to the grocery store. Oddly, I heard Husband come back into the house and he approached me with a sheepish look on his face. Husband proceeded to tell me that he had just hit and scraped Oldest Son's car as he was backing out of the driveway. Unbelievable. Really?!??!
So now Oldest Son's small SUV has a small spot of missing paint on the back right side but again no dents. Husband's red Prius has paint missing all along the back left side that he will need to repair. Husband's "consequence" is to park in front of house during daytime. But hey, at least Husband told us immediately ... sometimes you just have to laugh and go with it ...
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| The "black" spots around tire and upper back side are supposedly the results of Husband hitting Oldest Son's Mitsubishi while backing out of driveway. Oldest Son's car only has a tiny paint scrape. |
