I popped my cherry this week

I'm 37 years old, and it had never happened to me. Back in high school, it seemed like everyone was doing it, like it was a right of passage. But it never happened to me. Not even in college. I grew older, got married, and even had a kid -- you'd think it would have happened by this point. I was starting to feel like the only person left in the world who hadn't done it.

And then, on the way to work this week, it finally happened. It was a complete surprise, too. It's just like people say: it'll happen to you when you least expect it. And in Lisa's car, no less. She was understandably upset. He wasn't the best-looking guy either.

Yep, I finally got into an accident. The traffic ahead of me just stopped on I-485, and I couldn't hit those brakes hard enough to miss him. His Tacoma bumper took a little damage, but I managed to crunch Lisa Subaru's left front corner pretty bad. Nobody was hurt, which is the plus-side that I keep reminding myself of.

Here's where things start to get a little weird. The guy I hit doesn't speak a lot of English, and he seemed plenty happy to drop the whole thing if I bought him a $350 bumper. That worked for me because I'm trying to keep my insurance rates from going through the roof.

So after calling around town, cutting out of work early, driving to a dealer and buying said bumper, I get a call from my guy's friend who does body repairs. Apparently, more damage has been discovered to a taillight and the truck bed and that I'm now expected to shell out for that as well. Details on exactly how much damage has been done are sketchy.

With that information in mind, I thank the friend, hang up, and walk right back into the dealership to return the bumper. The claim is now completely in the hands of my insurance company and their bi-lingual agents. My rates my go up more, but at least I'm dealing with the back and forth anymore.