What Kind of a World Do We Live In?

This evening after Richel and I finished eating salad after salad at the Olive Garden, we were on our way to do some shopping at Target. While I was waiting at the stop light, there was a fairly high-speed head-on collision right in front of me. One car was making a left turn and the other car from the on-coming traffic didn't slow down for whatever reason. The result? See the entry about Chicago traffic below. In any case, the 2 cars collided, spun around and came to a stop. Glass and plastic shards were everywhere, and radiator fluid was draining out of the car on the left side while the engine began to smoke.

Almost immediately, a young woman from the car on the right got out and was almost hysterical, crying and screaming and holding her head. I looked intently, searching for signs of serious trauma, having just finished reading the traumatic brain injury section in my rehab book that day. But there was no blood, she was walking around crying and upset. She seemed okay, although she undoubtedly sustained some diffuse axonal injury. I don't think she had a bleed. Her friend soon got out of the car a minute later. She appeared uninjured as well, and she was much calmer than her friend who was the driver.

No one stirred in the other car.

I stayed parked at the intersection as people began to mill about on the street. Most of the people focused their attention on the hysterical young woman, others were on their cell phones calling in the incident, far off in the distance a police siren could be heard approaching fast. I kept an eye on the car on the left, the car that no one was coming out of, trying to see if anyone was seriously injured. If so, I would spring in to action...maybe.

Finally, an elderly man got out of the other car. He was calm and appeared to be injured as well. Most of the people ignored him, though, as their attention was focused on the hysterical young woman. Another older woman approached the older man and was asking him if he was alright.

Now, not to sound completely paranoid, but I did see that movie "What Dreams May Come". In it, Robbin Williams dies basically because he's too nice of a guy; he got out of his car to help this woman who got in to a serious car accident and ended up getting killed himself because of the idiot drivers around him. Would I want to suffer that fate? Not really, not with so much at stake (not that I'm a coward, or that self-preservation is my main goal in life, but my fear is what would happen to others should I die. But that's another long story). So after seeing that both parties were alive and not critical, and that police were arriving on the scene, I drove off.

But deep down inside, I had a nagging feeling of guilt, as if I had done something wrong by not getting out of my car and helping out, or at least asking if anyone needed help. Doing so would actually put me at risk, both physical and financial; I would be risking life and limb by walking on to the scene of an accident right in the middle of a 4 lane busy street. I would also risk being the target of litigation. That was actually my greater fear of the 2. Why all the paranoia?

I remember a story that my brother told me when he was in LA. He was in a car with some friends, and they witnessed a car that caused another car to drive in to a tree. My brother and his friends got out to see if the driver was okay, and immediately the driver began blaming them for causing the accident.

What kind of a messed-up world do we live in these days? Where someone would sue you for stopping and trying to help them, or blame you for something when you were trying to help? That's pure insanity. Sure, there's the Good Samaritan Law, but that law only protects you so much and if you're in the medical profession, it won't protect you as much as you think it will. In any case, it still doesn't stop the other person from suing you. They still can, but it's likely they won't win. Either way, it's a royal pain to deal with it. Despite risking physical harm and litigation, should I have gotten out of my car to help out? Maybe living in big cities for so long has thickened my skin to the point of apathy.

Someone once said it's an unfair world that we live in. But isn't the world what we make it?

Hoosiers or Hosers?

Anyone who has ever watched "Strange Brew" with Rick Moranes knows exactly what a Hoser is (well, that makes all 5 of us). But with all the troubles I've had in Indiana so far, and with all the people I've dealt with, maybe Indiana should be known for its Hosers as well.

We can always talk about the moving fiasco, but I've told that story one-too-many times to care to recount that tale, again. See the previous entry for more details. But those guys were from Indiana. My 2nd royal pain came when I tried to register for my car. I've even called them up before going down there and asked them exactly what they needed for me to register my vehicle. And it seems like regardless of how prepared I am or what documentation I bring down there, they always find something else that they need to have/see/done before they can register my car. And they always gave me an attitude while telling me I forgot something. Well, why the hell didn't you tell me that when I asked you on the phone, you moron? So like I said, Hoser.

Don't get me wrong, though. Not everyone in Indiana is a country bumpkin with an attitude. There are the select few who actually are quite intelligent, helpful, AND friendly. And I'm not talking about the pan-handlers, either.

Well, we'll see how it goes here. Moving here has been such a royal pain in the butt, that I really don't want to do this, again, anytime soon. And I'm sure Richel would agree with me on that.

Moving Woes

After graduating from Rush, my plan was to move down to "Indian-No-Place" and study my butt off until boards came around August 22nd. I figured I'd have a solid 2 months to do that. Moving would be a challenge all its own, and I had to enlist the aid of a moving company to help me do this. But which one to choose? There are so many, and so many are not trustworthy. So I decided to call up my group and ask them which company they used.

One of the people I talked to recommended a moving company by the name of A-Arnold. I was told they did good work and that the group has never had a problem with them. And I guess they really didn't....until now.

I should have known not to go with this company when the person who came to do the initial estimate was 3-4 hours late. And things got progressively worse from there.

Disaster Number 1: On the day of my move, June 29th, the movers showed up at 11am, 2-3 hours later than they should have shown up.

"Oh, there were a couple of bad traffic accidents this morning. But we left headquarters at 6:30am." Ya know, I don't give a rat's ass. I couldn't care less of Elvis returned. They were late. Period.

After looking over all my belongings, they told me that they didn't have any boxes to pack my posessions. A moving company that doesn't bring boxes with them. Okay, so not only are irresponsible and not on time, but they're also unprepared. They proceeded to call their headquarters for instructions while I waited upstairs in my apartment. But after an hour of waiting, I went outside and offerred to get my own boxes. My offer was declined, and then the moving crew decided it was time for lunch break. An hour and 45 minutes later, they returned and told me they knew of a place where they could get boxes. It took their headquarters 2 hours and 45 minutes to find a store that sold moving boxes? Apparently, people move extremely slowly from Indiana.

By that time, I asked if they would be able to pack my things, load up the truck, and move me in all in one shot. The guy from headquarters told me it would not be possible, and that they could be fined if they moved people in past a certain hour. My options were: a) to load up my stuff into their truck and have them move it to a warehouse where it would sit for 2-3 days before being moved back on to a truck and then to my new apartment, or b) to try to do it, again the right way the following week. By this time, I was skeptical and distrustful so I opted for the following week. If they weren't responsible to show up on time, there's no way I'd let them store my belongings in their warehouse so that they could jack up the price by charging "storage fees".

Opting for choice b actually got me in to a load of trouble with my landlord, who called me up at work the next day and screamed like a banshee at me to get out of my apartment by the following day. That was at 3pm. So my friends and I moved all my crap out in to Richel's apartment until 11pm. We took a break for food and then I resumed at 1am until 6am. I was so tired the next day; it was like being on call all over, again. The good news was that I finally got out of my apartment. A bit late, but still got out. But now I was living in Richel's tiny studio apartment with all my junk crammed in there. There was literally no space to walk, and my things were stacked up to the ceiling. But it was okay, because it would be temporary. The movers would come, again in 6 days and clean up this mess. Or so I thought.

Disaster Number 2: Tuesday came around, the day when A-Arnold movers were supposed to get it right and move me. They showed up at 9:15am, a considerably improved showing compared to their previous attempt. However, they were telling me that they had no place to park, that the police was telling them to move their truck because they parked in front of a fire hydrant, and that the closest parking spot was 3 blocks away. They couldn't double-park because that would block off part of the road, and they also needed a special permit that only local Chicago moving companies had. Again, they said there was no way they would be able to move me and in fact, suggested that I go with another local company. Foiled, once again.

So I looked up another company and found Chicago Movers. Can't get any more local than that, eh? Anyway, they said they could move me out that Sunday and that they would be by to do a quick estimate and drop off some boxes. Being the cautious one, I checked these guys online with the Better Business Bureau and they actually had one complaint in the past 3 years, but was resolved satisfactorily. By comparison, A-Arnold had a spotless record (they won't for long). But although Chicago Movers had a complaint, they were awesome. They were on time, did the job quickly, moved me out and in to my new place, and handled my things with great care. Chicago Movers were excellent, and I would use them again in a heartbeat! And they were cheaper than A-Arnold, too!

So, after all this disaster, I called up my group and spoke with the lady who referred me to A-Arnold, the worst moving company ever. And she basically blew me off.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. But we've never had a problem with them. I've been in contact with them the entire time, so I've been in the loop and I know what's going on. They've moved many other physicians and they've never had a problem with A-Arnold. In fact, we use them exclusively." So you're telling me *I'M* the problem? I explained to her that I was fed up with A-Arnold and that I was going to use another mover, Chicago Movers. Her reaction to that statement was very puzzling, as she sounded suddenly annoyed and almost indignant.

"Well, you know! You only have a limited stipend for moving and A-Arnold is going to bill you for that." I see. A moving company bills people for not moving them. That makes total sense, and I made this viewpoint known to my liason. However, my plea fell on deaf ears, as she seemed partial to the incompetent moving company.

The following day, I called up the moving company and asked them if there would be any charges. Sure enough, $2,000 would be charged to my moving stipend. That was amazing and I could not believe it. I talked to the operations manager for A-Arnold and discussed this situation very diplomatically. He told me he would talk to his boss and try to work something out. Either way, the Better Business Bureau would know about this.

So that's my moving story. From my experience, I can only say this:

A-Arnold World Class Movers are a bunch of liars and crooks. I would never use them, and would never recommend them to anyone unless I hated that person. Beware, fellow movers.