Good Ol’ Pemco Insurance!
So many stories from my 20s and 30s are such a blur, because of the drinking I am sure, but also I think I wanted and still want to block things. Either way here’s a story though, for better or worse:
Let’s set the scene – Let’s assume the year was around 2013 and I was searching for yet another job that would set my soul on fire and also provide some sort of responsibility. It was not a good decision, I mean if I had handled things differently perhaps it could have led to more opportunities but that is not the point of this post. I accepted a job as a concierge of sorts on a 90 ft yacht that traveled from Sidka to Jeanue Alaska, it was a charter, leaving from Ballard, a 7-day luxury tour of Alaska. I met Anna, a naturalist who I still think of and have much fondness for, an Alaskan fisherman’s guide, the captain of course, a cook, and then me the concierge.
I did this for 3 months, during which time a cool roommate watched over my cats, used checks I left (remember those?) to pay for my rent, etc. and my car was left with my brother (I think? This is where things get lost – I mean did I leave it with him and agree to pay for insurance while I was away? Or did I just leave it in the parking lot where was living until I returned? Only the devil knows I guess) Either way when I came home, I picked up my car to go somewhere, near Southcenter, and someone rear-ended me. I had no insurance at the time and I do not fault her but I cannot help but feel she took advantage – I remember her being very overweight and when I got out to talk to her, and exchange info she said (as she was very tightly crammed into her little honda) ‘oh I think it was my fault, I was following too closely’. But that is not where it ended, and I cannot recall what happened next after that but, I began a ‘relationship’ with a woman at Pemco Insurance, where I would call her weekly and monthly to make payments for an ‘around’ 10k insurance claim. Again to be clear, I had no car insurance when she hit me, from behind and it apparently caused her so much duress that she filed a claim that took me for everything, that is how it felt at least. This is getting long, but I called weekly to give the Pemco agent $25, $50, and sometimes $100. She was nice, I remember this agent had a raspy voice and was kind but also doing her job, and I was never mad at her, or really anyone. I had accepted my penance.
I cannot recall how long it took me to pay off that debt but I took it seriously and also I felt awful, I loathed that ‘fat chick’ silently for years, she was so pressed up against her wheel, even a slight bump would have caused what she said I did but I was without insurance and it was my fault. Such conflicting emotions but I was responsible from there on out, paying as scheduled. One day I called my Pemco agent, I still cannot recall her name but I do feel like it was Pam, I made a payment and I remember her processing it and there was this silence, then she spoke “I am proud of you”, that is all I remember her saying, I had finally paid it all off. She had learned so much about me over the years, that my parents had left me just after high school, that I was flying blind and she probably knew I was depressed and trying to find myself. This is a story I am rarely able and or willing to tell but here it is, not for you my devil, but for me and for young girls who feel that their mistakes define them and or isolate them, that is why I started this blog! Not so my crazy ex can catch up on my life, it’s so lovely humans can read these stories and feel that they are not alone; I see you, I hear you and I support you – whatever you are going through, keep going!
-B
