Thwack! In the blink of an eye, while driving Interstate 70, it happens. A rock gets thrown up from the truck in front of me and smacks the windshield.
I squint hard to see if the telltale chip is there, but I can’t really tell because of all the other dirt and debris on the windshield. When I stop to get gas, I’ll clean off the windshield and take a closer look.
It’s no surprise. Living in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, your car takes a beating, especially in winter. Between the snow and the rocks, it gets his share of dings and chips. Parking at my local ski area, I seem to find new dents in my bumper every winter. Fortunately (or unfortunately) it’s so dirty most of the time, that you really can’t see the imperfections. Washing it is also a fruitless endeavor, as with in 24 hours it’s back to its grim state once again.
When it comes to chips on the windshield, I know what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to take it to Safelite and get it filled before it inevitably turns into a longer crack that snakes it’s way across the windshield.
But I’m a procrastinator, and who has the time to make the appointment to get the repair? So inevitably I put it off.
On one road trip during the winter, the rock flew up and chipped the windshield. It look pretty insignificant until one very cold morning, I cranked the defrost on high to melt the ice off the windshield. The combination of hot air inside and freezing cold air turn my minor chip into a spider web of cracks that covered half the windshield.
Of course, I’m not alone. Check the parking lot at any of the local ski areas and half the cars have cracked windshields. When I first moved to Colorado, I wondered, “Why don’t these people get their windshields replaced? How can they see? That’s crazy to drive around like that.”
But then you live her for awhile, and you realize how common it is. Repairing a chip is free through my insurance, but the replacement of the windshield is not. Because my deductible is higher, I pretty much pay out of pocket. Do I really want to spend a few hundred dollars to replace only to get another chip and crack in the next year?
Now I understand….
Part of living in Nederland is accepting and embracing a different way of life. And part of that lifestyle is learning to live with an imperfect life, whether it be dust in my house or dings on my car.
It just goes with the territory.
