But didn't think it would go down like this...

Was on my way to meet my wife for lunch. Went to the bank to
get a little money to pay for the lunch. Pulling into the bank parking
lot ahead of me was a black Toyota Highlander. So, I follow this
vehicle into the parking lot.

Now, the ATM machine is on the other side of the bank building from
the entrance, so following the Highlander, I proceed to make my way
around the parking lot to the other side of the building where the ATM
is located. The Highlander reaches the point of the parking lot where
it has to turn left to continue around the bank. But instead of moving
in that direction, the driver stops. So, I stop. Next, I see the dreaded
reverse lights come on from the Highlander.

I toot my horn to let the driver know someone is behind them. They
start backing up. I start blowing my horn furiously, to no avail as
the driver continues backing up. I reach for the gear selector and
check my mirror as I'm putting it into reverse. But that's as far as I
go before I feel the dreaded thump.

Of couse, the first words out of my mouth as I'm sitting there are not
fit to print... something like "Sorry F#^K!@g Dumba$$...", but a lot
more obscene.

So, I get out of the car, as the other driver is also (a woman), and my
first words to her are "Didn't you hear my horn"! "No", she says, "I had my
music up kinda loud". "Well, didn't you look behind you before you decided
to back up"? "I didn't think anyone was behind me" says she.

Can you believe this level of stupidity? 6 years of making sure I don't
park where people can ding up my car. 6 years of driving well behind
other cars to avoid rocks. 6 years of doing everything I can to protect
the body work. All, undone (figuratively) by one stupid driver in a bank
parking lot.

So, I got very lucky. I keep a front end cover on the car when ever I
drive (except in the rain, where I take extra precautions to stay well
back from other cars on the road). In this case, it appears to have
sheltered me from anything more than a scratch at the top of the
bumper just under the centerline of the grill. Of course, I don't know
what might have been busted loose on the inside of the bumper, such
as mounting brackets, etc. So Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to the body shop
I go.

BTW, you can bet that I called the police and got a police report of the
incident. No tickets issued, as this occured on private property.

I guess, what I'm really happy about, the airbags didn't deploy. That
would have made a real mess.

Coyote