Crash!

Today, in the grand tradition of smashing up Pacificas, I somehow managed to drive over a metal post. I was making a right turn through a parking lot, and this stupid post leaped under the car out of nowhere. The first I knew of it was a BANG, and the car jumped into the air as if lifted by explosives (indeed, my first panicked thought was that I'd driven over a land mine). Two men came running to see "if the world was ending" (to quote one of them). No, the world did not end, but I did manage to peel the rear passenger tire away from the rim; air hissed out through the gap so quickly that the tire was deflating before our eyes. The rear door was also somewhat dented. Because I am a college-educated woman with lots of life experience, I did what any like-minded individual would do in this circumstance... I called my husband to come rescue me. And he did. I don't think he was especially pleased.