I Got Doored

Apparently that's what it's called when you're riding your bike in the right-most lane, next to the parked cars, and someone sitting in a parked car opens their door, and you run into it. I was biking to a dog-walking job on Tuesday when it happened. A woman opened her car door wide, a second before I hit it. I think I had time to realize that the door opened, but not enough time to break. My neck hit the top of the door, and then I fell over on my side. I'm not sure if I hit my head, but I had my helmet on. My neck was what hurt the most. It is a little scraped and bruised. The woman kept asking if I needed an ambulance. I didn't think I needed an ambulance, but I didn't know what to do. Luckily, a guy pulled up who was a police officer or detective or something. He called some cops on his walkie-talkie. (Turns out we were right in front of a police station.) They came and got our ids and the woman's insurance info. They called an ambulance even though I didn't think I needed one. When the ambulance came, like 9 EMTs stood around staring at me. One guy said "I get worse cuts than that shaving." I think he was trying to make me feel better, but it didn't work. They told me I could "refuse care" and that I could always go to the hospital later if I wanted to. So I did that. My bike was still ridable, although I have to straighten the handlebars.

I came home and slept for about four hours. I had a pretty bad headache, but I'd had a headache before the crash. It was hard to know how badly I was hurt and whether or not to go to a hospital to get checked out. When I first ran into the door, it definitely hurt and I was freaked out. But because of the adrenaline and shock, it took awhile for some of the pain and rational thoughts to register. Plus with some injuries, like concussions, the symptoms might not show up for days. And whiplash and sore muscles usually get worse for the first few days. So I took it easy. I was supposed to dog-sit Oliver that night, but Patrick convinced me not to. That was easier than me convincing my boss that I couldn't do it. Rather than just give me the contact information for some other walkers, he first felt it necessary to confirm that I actually needed to stay home. "You didn't go to the hospital. And you're not going now. So... why can't you do the dog sit?" Well, Gus, maybe in the next few hours I'll decide I need to go to the hospital, and what will I do with Oliver then?? Sheesh. All that said, I probably could have done the dog-sit. Instead of feeling worse the next few days, I only felt better. One night before bed I took some arnica pills and put some arnica gel on my neck. The next day I almost felt completely better! For those of you who aren't familiar, arnica is a homeopathic remedy for sore muscles, joints, bruises, etc. Arnica is also how a pirate would say my name: ARR-nika! Thanks to Aunt Pat for introducing it to me.

You know what I was thinking moments after running into the door? Besides "ow my neck hurts," I thought "I don't have insurance, I don't have insurance, crap crap crap crap crap!" Believe me, it was high on my priority list to buy insurance after my volunteer insurance ran out. But when all I found was a part time dog walking job, I knew I couldn't afford it until I got a farm job. So I'm doing the mid-20s "nothing will ever happen to me" thing, I guess. And getting doored got me thinking. If I'd had to go to the hospital, or the doctor, I would have had to pay out of pocket. Or I could have tried to get the lady who doored me (or her insurance) to pay. But that would probably mean suing her. Which would mean court costs. And stress. And time. And any time I have to go to the doctor or hospital, not only am I hurting, I'm stressing out about how I will pay. Which is not good for anyone's health. Pretty soon it will be illegal to be uninsured. And I wonder, will I have options I can afford? Will I have to go through all kinds of red tape to get the government to help me pay for it? Why can't we all just be like Germany??? A social health care system means you don't have to worry about what it costs to be in the hospital. Heck, the other day I said something about how expensive it is to give birth in the hospital and Patrick was like, "what do you mean cost? It doesn't cost anything to have a baby." Yeah, not in Germany. You know, I would willingly give 40% of my income to taxes if I didn't have to worry about health care, schooling... Well, that's one big thing Germany's got going for it.

Speaking of schooling costs, I got a nice big"thank you" from AmeriCorps when I finished. They give those who complete one year $4700 in education money to be applied to loans or future schooling. I applied it to my loans, and it finally went through. That means I have ... drum roll please... $2200 in loans left to pay!!! I am ecstatic! I could pay it off right now if I wanted to. But I want to wait until I get a real job, which will probably be within the next 2 months. Unless something drastic happens, I will be paying off my loans in under 3 years. Hooray!