The Fast and the Furious

Have you seen the movie The Fast and the Furious?”

When I graduated college, I bought my dream car — a 1995 Honda Civic Si. I left the dealership not even knowing how to drive stick shift, but I figured it would all work out.

I loved that car, but over time I became convinced the car was somehow cursed.

A week after owning my car, a truck with a snow plow attachment clipped the front of it in a parking lot tearing apart the fender. I had it fixed.

A year later a car suddenly stopped in front of me on the Kennedy expressway. I hit the car and then another car rear ended my car. I had it fixed.

Two years later, a psychiatrist talking on his cell phone with a patient rear ended my car. I had it fixed.

Three years later in a massive snow storm, I drove down a less congested side road to get to work. After noticing a car in a ditch, I slowed down. A half mile later my car slowly slid off the road and into a tree. A kind driver pulled my car out of the ditch. I had it fixed.

Four years later I was pulled over by a police officer because my license plates showed they were registered to another car in Southern Illinois. Turns out the DMV registered the plate number to two different vehicles. I received new plates in the mail.

When I went out the next morning to put my new plates on, there was an empty parking spot where my car had been. It was stolen.

I called Allstate insurance and the rep said, “Oh! Have you seen the movie The Fast and the Furious? They stole that car for street racing.” Allstate wrote me a check.

Months later, my Mom called to tell me an Illinois State Trooper knocked on her front door wanting to know if I lived at the address. She told him I lived in Chicago and he would not provide any more info.

I called the officer and he told me they pulled over two guys for drag racing. The VIN number on the dashboard had been filed off but they matched the car back to me via the second VIN located on one of the axles of the car. Turns out the car was cursed even for the guys that stole it.

Allstate took possession of the car since I had been paid and I never saw it again.

Working hard can allow you to buy more things, but at the end of the day you should not let them define what makes you happy in life.