I95+70MPH+Coyote=Dammit

So, there I was on I-95 at 3am on Sunday morning, driving home from Raleigh. I was driving 70 mph, talking to my boyfriend about what a great time we had that day and evening, listening to music while trying to stay awake. That's when it happened. All I saw was a shock of brown in my headlights and heard a loud thump as it made impact with the front end of my car. It was a coyote. Yes, there are coyotes, raccoons, possums and deer that cross the interstate regularly. Why a coyote decided to cross the highway at that exact moment was nothing short of an FML moment for him.

We pulled off at the next exit thinking there was probably only body damage and I would have lived with that as long as it was still running. But God decided that it wasn't going to be my lucky day. That coyote pretty much destroyed the radiator, cooling fan and mount on the front of my car, rendering it 'jacked the f*** up' just 45 miles from Fayetteville. My boyfriend, God bless him, did what every man does in situations where they don't really know what they are doing: he surveyed the damage and announced that my car was probably un-driveable and offered me his AAA card and was going to take care of me. That reminded me that I had my own AAA card and I could probably take care of myself so I decided to use it. The tow back home was free and had another, "Dang, my dad was right" moments as I crawled into bed at 3am.

It wasn't over yet, though, as I had my car taken to the repair shop early in the morning. PETA forgive me, but after finding out the cost of the damage to my car, if that coyote didn't die on impact I wanted him to. Because that plus the inconvenience of being without a car for two days and finding out that you can't rent a car if you're self-employed and don't have a credit card was making it hard for me to have a nice day. But, the damage could have been much worse, I could have been alone without AAA and paying out of my ass to get back home or I could have hit a deer and totaled my car beyond repair. I know these things.

I supposed I could list all the things I should be thankful for after I'm finished with my pity party of one: Bonita Applebottoms, the boyfriend, AAA & my dad, the car will be ready tomorrow, Jersey Shore repeats and my ability to 'take care of it and get over it.' I'm not too sure that I will be commuting the 95 when it's that dark anymore now that I know that there are suicidal furry animals ready to kamikaze my car.