And they let you drive a Fire Truck?

Normally Mondays are my "hell day". I start my day at 5:30 am to be up for clinical rotation at the Level 1 Trauma Center for 7 am. From there, I walk two blocks to class which lasts until 10-10:30 pm. I normally get home around 10:30-11pm. Yesterday since it was a holiday, we had no class time, but I was still scheduled to do rotation.

During my shift at the volley service on Sunday I had sent a text to my Paramedic friend (with whom I've been studying with since before Paramedic School started) and let him know I'd drop by after visiting a sick relative, for assistance in reading some ECG's. My aunt had been in another hospital recovering from surgery only a few minutes away from the hospital where I log my rotations.

After an eventful shift, I made my way over to see my aunt who was in very good health and good spirits. I ended up staying a little longer than I had planned and sent a text to my medic friend letting him know that with traffic I most likely wouldn't make it up before the end of his shift. He confirmed and let me know the following shift would suffice.

Shortly thereafter, my Aunt kicked me out so she could rest and I made my way home. The traffic was much lighter than I thought giving me a few minutes to perhaps catch my friend before the end of his shift. I made my way to the Fire Station unannounced to find a parking lot full of cars and the fly car missing from the normal parking spot. Seeing as how it was 30 minutes until the end of my friends shift, I parked in my normal spot and sent a text asking if he was on call (OC) or gassing up.

More vehicles came trickling in, one pulled in next to me and parked. I decided to move my car as I thought I may be taking a spot that some one else could use. I put my car in reverse and backed up a good 35-40 feet to the old fire-house-converted-fire-museum on the other side of the lot from the main building and parked. Even though the area was a little dark, it still had some light and was far enough out of the way for cars entering and leaving. Or so I thought.

I turned the headlights off and checked the messages on my phone. Normally if not on a call, my friend is pretty prompt about returning text messages. With a quiet phone, I slid it back into my pocket and sat quietly reflecting on all the people I had interacted with during rotations that day. After a couple of minutes I took my phone out and sent my friend a message, "Must be OC. Heading home, catch you tomorrow." Before I could hit send, I noticed the truck that had parked next to me start to back up.

Granted the way the cars were parked it was impossible to do a K turn and drive out head first, I didn't think much of it at first. But then the truck got closer and closer to my car. I put my hand on the horn and was about ready to hit it when the vehicle stopped. A little irritated that the guy waited until he was *this close* before stopping, I moved my hand from the horn.

No sooner than I had done that then WHAM!  all I heard was a crunch. He backed up again this time hitting my car. He pulls forward a few feet and gets out of his car while audibly bitching about the fact he didn't see me, which is blatantly obvious at this point. Although he kept his cool, he started demanding to know what I was doing there.

While he went to his truck to get a flash light, I explained I had been waiting for my Paramedic friend to come back so he could assist me with homework. He then asked again what I was doing in that spot because he had just parked next to me. I noted that seeing as how there was a meeting going on, it made sense for me to move out of a parking spot for someone who was attending the meeting.

Assessing the damages didn't take too long thankfully. The protective covering on the headlight was completely cracked, there was a 6x2 scratch on the front bumper of my car and the license plate (and my EMS Service plate needed for first responding in the town I volunteer in) were pretty bent up. Thankfully both headlights still worked with no issue.

After a minute or two of trying to figure out how or why he hit me, and stating some of the damage he did he didn't do, and digressing after I pointed out matching damage on his truck, he gave me his contact information. He then shook his head and said he was on his way out to respond to a fire call down the road which is why he was leaving the meeting and not really paying attention.

All I could think was, "Seriously, I hope they don't let you drive the Fire Truck."

On the plus side, if he did give me false information, I know where to find him... I just have to make sure I park where he can see me.