RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

It was raining again. It had rained all week. There was no sign it would stop. I had to go shopping for food for next week. I went to get in my car and there he was, the neighbor I didn't really like, the one who said I needed to pay 70 dollars for a few months.

There he was always in the way. This time he was right behind the car. I had to hope he would stay out of the way as I backed up.

I didn’t have time to think about it being wrong or maybe complaining, so I started paying the fee. I didn’t want to be surrounded by trash. Differences between the east and west coast of the U. S. of A. were becoming clearer. Out west there weren’t these pay for trash removal problems. The trash cans were emptied as a public service. Out west it never rained like this either. Now I had to plot my route to avoid puddles at the intersection. The rain also meant lots of stupid little accidents brought about by wet pavement.

Out west cars were everything, here I commuted by train and subway. There was a lot less driving in general, so it seemed to mean more stupid little accidents, people turning where they shouldn’t or running into each other in the parking lot.

So it wasn’t surprising to be rear ended, as it is known, when I exited the parking lot. I couldn’t have been at fault, I was not in anybody’s way. It meant getting out of the car, in the rain, getting all wet, feeling water drip down my neck, searching for a pen, giving insurance information and hoping for the best. There were lots of fake accidents or accidentally on purpose collisions. It was considered an easy way to make money for recent arrivals.

So there was no way of knowing what would happen next. Sometimes nothing would happen, or you could end up in court. Therefore beside being uncomfortable and wet, I was worried. But you can only worry so much. After awhile you forget all about it. But it may always come back.

This time the person who rammed into me was well prepared for an accident. Immediately she started complaining about a pain in the neck, which brought the night merely thought of medical bills that are incredibly large. She also complained about a bad shoulder.

I was just starting out on my life’s adventure. Of course I wanted success, maybe an Oscar, having grown up in Los Angeles, an Oscar is the ultimate sign of success. But since I was just beginning, I definitely had no extra money for incredibly expensive medical bills, I could not afford the latest fashion or my own yacht. Therefore, I made no offer of a sum as consolation. At the time I didn’t think anyone could do something hurtful like ramming into the back of someones car in hope of compensation. Evidently, when you have nothing to lose, lots of iffy things become possible. I never would have thought of damaging someones car in the hope of a possible compensation. As time went by and I heard nothing more about a damaged car, it became clear that I wouldn’t hear anymore. There were plenty of news stories about staged accidents, in which only the unlucky actually got hurt for real. So I have to think, now that I’m older, that Americans are often taken advantage of because of a loathing for paperwork and waiting for the mail that makes for the likelihood that they might pass a hundred dollar bill or two when involved in an accident, even a staged one.

Provide insurance info even when its pouring rain is the lesson here.

For the trash cans, I paid rather than be covered in trash. I could find no easy way out. That local mafia takes care of the trash on Long Island was known. I didn't have the energy to get t6o the bottom of this and I did not want to upset the local mafia.

I spent a lot of time gardening because lots of rain means a lot of plants, some unwanted. So there were unwanted maple trees, which if left alone did some damage to house or yard. If the roots keep growing they will damage driveways or sidewalk.

When its raining like this sometimes you can pull up an unwanted tree by the roots because the ground is nice and soft, not hard because here there is clay, which turns hard when dry.

But rain means no sailing, or other sports. Long Island is great for sailing, and I ventured out onboard a smallish ship (30 feet) many times. I went for a week-long voyage up the coast of New York to arrive on the coast of Connecticut. There were plenty of small, old sailing towns that were used for fishing cod and all that could found in the 1800’s. There were also memorials for sailors lost at sea and other reminders of how difficult life was back then. There are light houses and lots of shops and restaurants to bring you back to the present. But this area is visited especially in summer, meaning the rest of the year one must find something else to do. That this area is undergoing renovation is obvious, but what is to become of these areas is not. It seems more is moving out than moving in.

There is a large U.S. Naval base for ships and submarines, so the government has a presence. There are also some high tech companies. This would make it seem that all is going well. So why does one get just the opposite impression?

Perhaps because in the old days it was more often brute force that was requested, now it is more high education that is needed. For decoding computer information some college education is needed. Or you can go for something fraudulent. It seems there is also much of that going on, from taking out the trash to trying with one’s car.