An important lesson: Own up and leave a note

So this Saturday just past was not a good day at all. It kicked off at 4:45am when the alarm went off and bleary eyed I showered, stumbled around in the dark to find some clothes and attempt not to wake my wife up while I got ready for work in the process. I'll be honest, I'm not good at early shifts finding it extremely difficult to sleep the night before. But the show goes on and so does the car...

However the fuel gauge was flashing at me 60 seconds in and after filling up around the corner, I copped a over zealous guy behind the counter.

'A ssssssstagea! (he really emphasised the name for some reason) You don't see many of those any more!'
'Actually there's plenty about. Quite a following on the Gold Coast...' I managed to tiredly mumble back which earned me a confused look as he handed back the change.

Thankfully the drive into work with a quick stop for a drive through coffee was uneventful.

Most of work for the next few hours were uneventful. Well until the part when I was doing my radio show and hit some strange button which greatly echoed my voice back to me through my headphones which threw me right off. Anyone listening to that particular part of the show probably wondered why my voice suddenly slowed down so much that it sounded like I was having a stroke..(throwing the headphones off and speaking without them did the trick until I reset the desk.)

So I was pretty tired and ready for a cold beer and a nap in that order when my shift finished. However I had to swing by Supercheap Auto for some spark plugs for the wagon first. So I drove over and pulled into the tight car park, swung the wagon around to park...and misjudged the gap.
Oh s**t.

There's that sickening scraping sound and I saw the car move slightly as I pulled back. Ugh. This is not good, all I wanted was to go home...

So I waited around. Five minutes. Then ten with no sign of the car owner. So I fished through my car and found some scrap paper and a pen:

I'M SO SORRY - I COMPLETELY MISJUDGED MY PARK AND SCRATCHED YOUR CAR. PLEASE CONTACT ME ON 04XX-XXX-XXX AND LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN RECTIFY THIS.

(There was no way I wasn't going to leave a note - remembering how gutted I was when someone swiped my old Mazda without leaving a note or any explanation, leaving my contact details was the least I could do.)

Boy was I angry with myself as I picked up the spark plugs and drove home. You know how when you're bone tired, you really make a mountain out of a molehill? I was feeling pretty awful. What a rubbish day - pass me a beer, I want to go back to bed.

The owner of the car text me shortly after explaining that she would get it checked out during the week and let me know the damages involved. I could see the scratch wasn't down to bare metal but still my brain was working overtime trying to work out how much money I'd be out of from this little mishap. Those thoughts continued right across the weekend too.

UNTIL...

Thankfully she text me back on Monday explaining that with a decent clean and some scrubbing, the scratches came right out. No paint damage, no need to visit the nearest panel beaters. Glorious! She thanked me for my honesty and left it there.

I KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I DIDN'T LEAVE A NOTE:

Someone would have filmed it. Or photographed me getting out as fast as possible. My plates would appear on Facebook and people would boo and hiss me in the supermarket. Footage would appear on A Current Affair and my name would be a household name for all the wrong reasons. I'd never be able to eat at fancy restaurants without some kind of stylish mask hiding my features. I'd get sour looks when buying spark plugs. My kids would be disappointed at their dad.
Oh and most importantly - the car owner would feel gutted by the fact that someone didn't leave a note and karma would well and truly bite me in the bum somehow.

If you cause a bingle, scratch or scrape - leave a note. Things might not be as bad as first thought ;)