Bumped

**THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED**

I got rear-ended in a car wash, of all places. It was one of those automated affairs where you put the car in neutral and rollers on a track push the car forward as brushes and high-pressured jets swirl around you. I was trying to clean the dash with a moistened towelette (similar to the kind of thing you might receive after eating shellfish at a restaurant) which only served to collect the tiny dust particles into larger dust pills. I'm not really sure I accomplished anything, interior-wise.

Just as I was nearly through the soapy tunnel, I felt a bump from behind. I think it was hard enough that I hit my head on the headrest although these things happen so quickly it's hard to remember. In fact, the first thing I thought was that I must have imagined it. It felt like I had been rear-ended but who gets rear-ended in a car wash? All I could see in my rear-view mirror were long-fingered, swirling red brushes.

Some emergency mechanism activated which shut the whole car wash down. The brushes slowed and then stopped, revealing my aggressor - a gold Chevrolet Malibu. I drove out of the tunnel and back to the office to report the incident and check for damage. The Malibu was trapped inside the car wash and I wasn't sure who I was more worried about at that point.

There was no damage to the car (which was Hubby's, not mine) that I could see but the car was still dirty because the car wash shut off before I was through it. They let me go through again but I made sure the other driver was out before I went in again. I certainly didn't need to be rear-ending anyone!

I chatted with the other driver afterwards and she thinks she just didn't get the car into neutral before her descent into our slippery slope. She didn't have her foot on the gas, but she unintentionally drove through the drive-thru wash. And, maybe she was trying to clean her dashboard as she wondered, "Gee, this wash is fast!"

I'm not hurt and the car is fine. But I might need to find a new car wash.

UPDATE: Hubby saw the car this morning and was not happy. He said he could see the outline of the other car's license plate in the bumper. I knew what he was talking about. There are two little holes in the bumper but they are so neat that it didn't occur to me that they weren't there by design. I didn't know what purpose they could possibly serve but there are many things I don't understand.

From Drop Box

In the following image you can see little dents in the bumper outside of the dimples. You can't really tell from this view but from a straight-on view from the rear you can make out the shape of a license plate.

From Drop Box

I should have known that a BMW-owner would be picky about his car. I guess I need to locate this other driver. She gave me her first name and place of employment so I'm headed there now to get her contact information, at least.