Where is the Justice?

Recently I was involved in an accident in my hometown where a woman slammed into me trying to make an illegal left hand turn.

Passers-by stopped to ensure I was okay; I was fine, just stunned.

Debris was all over the street (La Grange Road just north of Ogden in La Grange, IL) and the washer fluid container was on the ground. The entire right headlight and all surrounding areas were crunched. The car had to be towed.
The driver stopped, fortunately. Unfortunately she had no insurance.

The police officer indicated that he could not force me to go to court, but if I didn’t go, she would get not even a ticket. He issued two tickets – one for failure to yield and the other for no insurance.

I went to court.

The judge informed the court room that if the party with whom you had an accident was not sitting in the room, plead ‘not guilty.’

The woman who hit me received a $214 court charge plus a $100 fine for not having insurance.
I, on the other hand, paid my $500 deductible plus additional car rental charges of $600 on the $9,000 repair bill on a 2015 automobile.

Justice?

P.S. As an aside to this story (which I submitted to the Tribune editorial page) I thought I recognized the officer who was writing up the accident report. I asked him if his birthday was February 17 (which is my birthday also).

He answered with a surprised lilt in his voice, "How did you know that?"

"Because it is my birthday also and you let me off of a ticket about 4 years ago for the sole reason we have the same birthday."

He laughed, did not remember that incident but he said it is unusual for him to work day shift - lucky for me, though.


Laurie Whitman
506 N Waiola Ave.
La Grange Park, IL 60525
(708) 829-8286

Competition is a Good Thing

My son, the perpetual fitness advocate and giver of Christmas presents I would never buy for myself, got me a Fitbit for Christmas 2014.

I had asked for it because I walk every day, had been clocking my steps with my Nano (a previous gift from him many Christmases ago). I saw Fitbit advertised, thought it looked good and he got me one – with a fuchsia band.


I set a goal of 10,000 steps a day and 8 hours of sleep a day. I never thought I would achieve the latter.


I reach the step goal a few times a week. I’ve doubled it twice in a year. I also have ‘friended’ two girlfriends, one is 10 years younger than I and walks every day with a fellow woman warrior and another friend just one year younger than I. And yes, I usually am beaten to a pulp by my younger friends.


An unforeseen benefit is that I am sleeping! Maybe not like a baby but clocking eight hours a night, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. There is a sleep graph that shows you your restless times and your awake times. I do wake up a couple of times during the night, but the time between wake-ups is totally clear on the chart – meaning uninterrupted sleep. It’s a godsend.


Having raised two kids, I don’t think I have had uninterrupted sleep in – let’s see, one kid is 34 the other is 29. In about 34 years.


No longer am I complaining about how badly I slept. No longer am I nodding off during the day while reading the newspaper (even at 7:30 in the morning). No longer does my bed beckon to me at 8:30 p.m.
I am now well-rested….all because I want to beat my Fitbit!