I was recently enjoying a nice quiet evening at home, cooking some ramen noodles by the light of my kerosene lamp after dark. My tranquility was interrupted by an engine roaring, followed by the sound of tires skidding through dirt, and then a loud crash.

Within a few seconds I could hear voices and footsteps that made it clear that half the neigborhood was on their way over to investigate, so I took a peek out my front door. I saw a pick up truck with no windshield and only one head light that had crashed into the fence post marking the corner of my front yard, and that had white smoke pouring out from under the hood. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Apparently the guy had been driving down the hill, and it had been a little while since he had done any maintenance on his brakes. Great. The driver had the hood open and was whining about how there weren't any lights in our town for him to see if he was going to hit anything, and also about how inconveniently placed my fence post had been. I replied by politely informing him that had he had working brakes and headlights there would not have been a problem. He retorted with something about me not knowing anything about driving, since I didn't have a car. I told him that I had driven in more snow and ice than he had ever seen and could probably teach him a thing or two. I also informed him that I hoped that he was planning to replace my fence post that he had just destroyed.

By now we are speaking in voices that are much louder than what I usually use in civilized conversations. He told me that he was never going to offer me a free ride on his truck again (which he never had), to which I replied that I had no interest in riding a truck without any brakes. He backed his truck up and went driving off into the night.

I was a little steamed, but glad that no one had gotten hurt in the crash. My neighbors were very impressed with the way I handled the man. I guess my Spanish has advanced to the point where I can exchange insults with strangers at the drop of a hat. Incidentally, the man still hasn't brought me a new pole. I yell insults at him every time his truck goes by, and he replies with rude gestures, and a hint of a smile. I think we are becoming friends.