TTWFO: Til' the Wheels Fall Off

Now--more than ever--it's so important to send good vibes into this crazy world & if possible, never burn bridge because you never know how paths may cross in the future! I wanted to share a little sunshine with my network around the multiplicative power assuming positive intent.

A few years back I'd just gotten the courage to buy a new car. Since graduating college, I'd always had company cars or driven my beater 2009 Ford Fusion. I'd gotten a new job that didn't provide a company car & been selected to do a ride-along with a senior level exec. Understanding that the Head of Commercial Banking for Capital One probably wasn't accustom to squeaky doors & missing passenger side door handles, I finally ripped off the band aid & decided to get my first new car in over a decade. My brother was in the car business so I understood what a poor investment vehicles were so I'd always seen them as a means of getting from point A to point B which was why I had the perspective: TTWFO--Drive it til' the wheels fall off.

A family friend knew the owner of a big BMW dealership here in Atlanta so I felt like I was safe from being bamboozled & ended up splurging on a brand new BMW which was beyond fancy compared to my 200,000+ mile Fusion. It was physically & emotionally difficult for me to make such a large purchase on a car. I can't explain it other than this weird guilt melded with impostor syndrome that gets hardwired into your brain when you grow up poor. Even though I've found "success" and buy things as part of said "success" I've found that I still very much grapple with a heavy guilt of "Do I deserve this?", "Am I worthy?" & "Is this too much?" Once you're poor, you sort of always have this looming fear that you're just one step away from being back where you started so making big, frivolous purchases can cause a lot of anxiety, fear, and guilt in my experience.

I share this because buying a nice car was difficult for me--it was a big deal. I legitimately had an emotional breakdown about 10 times during the loan paperwork at the BMW dealership--I hadn't had a car payment in over a decade! I almost returned the car 3 or 4 times in the days following the purchase because while I can justify spending money on a trip to see a corner of the Earth I'd always dreamed of seeing, buying a fancy German sports car wasn't as easily justifiable in my mind.

The money I spent on this car weighed heavily on my heart & mind in the weeks following so this is where I was at emotionally when just a couple of weeks after buying the car, I was working from a coffee shop in my neighborhood when a kid walks in and announces: "Excuse me, does anyone in here drive a Grey BMW?" 

Living in West Midtown at the time & there being zero good parking anywhere left in the neighborhood due to its retail explosion & construction, I thought for sure I was illegally parked and got booted.

I stood up sheepishly, "me?" 

The young man walks over, sits down at my table with a worried look on his face and says, "I'm really, really sorry to have to tell you this, but I accidentally side-swiped it when I was backing in. I just got a new car myself and I don't know it's corners yet so I hit yours." 

I was so angry and frustrated. I felt my blood pressure raise because I hadn't even paid my first payment & it was so very hard to make that big purchase decision to begin with. I screamed inside at myself , "I wish I still had my Fusion!" I grabbed my laptop, purse & we walked outside together. Yep, big ol' dent in my pretty new car.

"Ma'am, is there any way I can pay for this directly so it doesn't have to go through insurance? I just graduated college and don't want my rates to increase." 

Red flags went off & I could see the headline in the news: "Gullible idiot believes stranger will pay to fix her car without legal action." My common sense told me not to, but I paused; I felt something inside my gut telling me this kid was trustworthy. I mean, he came looking for me to tell me of his mistake. How many people in a big city would do that, right? Plus, it wasn't too long ago that I was just graduating college, broke, and trying to get a leg up and break in the world, too. I thought to myself, "What would I want done to me if I were in this situation?"

So, we traded numbers, I texted him the body shop quote a few days later, and to my surprise & elation, he immediately sent me the money on CashApp. A seemingly horrible experience ended better than I could've ever imagined.

Fast forward a few years later and "Kid who hit my car at Octane" just flashed across my caller ID. 

I smiled.

"Hi, is this Meaghan?"

I laughed...

"Yes, is this the guy who hit my car at Octane coffee a few years ago?" 

He laughed...

We exchanged pleasantries and I found out he is now a successful e-commerce business owner with multiple online stores that are rapidly growing. He called because he was looking for advice on good credit cards for large inventory buys. He remembered I worked for Amex when we were chitchatting & trading contact info at the coffee shop that day he hit my car. So here we were, several years later, he found my phone number from the CashApp payment history from when he paid me for the damages to my car so he could call me.

While I don't sell credit cards anymore, but I was happy to take the time to help someone who is doing good and right in this crazy world. We caught up & I spent nearly an hour coaching him on what were his best options from a points, rebate, and ROI perspective based on his spending behaviors, cash flow needs, and expectations around how credit vs charge cards effect personal credit.

I just had to share this because it made me smile to know that two people who met by fate over what should've been a terrible situation, made positive impressions and opted to lean into kindness and trust instead of anger and distrust. 

Just goes to show having faith in humanity isn't always a losing bet. ??