Ann: Hannah had a little mishap in her car while pulling out of the driveway this morning.Pam: Is she okay?
Ann: Yeah, she’s fine, the car’s fine, but our mailbox didn’t survive.
Pam: A lot of fender benders happen that way. Did I ever tell you how I got grounded because my brother had a fender bender pulling out of our driveway?
Ann: You got grounded? Were you in his car and you distracted him somehow? Were you fighting over the radio station? My sister and I had that problem.
Pam: I wasn’t even in the car. And it wasn’t his car. We only had two cars - mom’s and dad’s. He’d just started driving.
Ann: But you got grounded? Okay, I have to know…
Pam: I was fourteen and he was sixteen and we’d been bickering. I wanted him to drop me by my friend’s house on his way somewhere else. He didn’t want to take the time, and we fought about it.
Ann: I think most siblings fight about that as soon as the oldest starts to drive.
Pam: When he headed out the front door to leave, I followed him, changing my pleas to threats. He ignored me and hopped into my mother’s car and quickly backed out of the driveway. In his
rush, he turned the wheel too soon and backed my mom’s car smack into my dad’s car which was parked in the street.Ann: You’re kidding!
Pam: I was convinced it was divine retribution and was laughing out loud as he got out to check the damage on both cars.
Ann: Wow. Way to show compassion, sis.
Pam: I was taunting him and laughing as he walked back into the house to confess. Moments later he came back outside with my dad, who looked furious, taking huge strides towards the cars while tightening his bathrobe sash.
Ann: So how’d you end up getting grounded?
Pam: Well, my father didn’t quite appreciate the humor of the situation like I did. I was literally rolling around on the front lawn holding my sides from the ache from laughing so hard. My father told me to stop but I just couldn’t. When I kept laughing, he told me to go to my room.Ann: He was pretty mad, huh?
Pam: Yeah. I was weak with laughter but I dragged myself to my room. When he came in later he told me that my brother wasn’t grounded but that I was. Then he gave me this big lecture on how wrong it is to take pleasure in other people’s pain, especially family members. And he ended with the words, “You’re grounded until you learn to show compassion towards your brother.”
Ann: Didn’t you think it was pretty unfair that you were the only one punished when it was your brother who wrecked both family cars?
Pam: No, it was totally worth it! The best grounding I ever had! To this day I still smile at the memory.
Ann: I guess that means you’re still grounded.
