To be fair, the lady on the phone from the insurance company called less than an hour after the accident and had no way of knowing I was in the middle of a reasonably contained mob waiting turns to talk to judges. Six-year-old Benjamin and I suffered a rear-end collision on the way to his Reading Fair, but except for a bang on the side of his head by the car seat that hurt less than two minutes and a dent in the back fender, we were fine and continued our plan for the day. After my plea of noise problems with the group gathered for the event, the adjuster agreed to call me in the afternoon at home where I could hear. We finished the morning with a nice third place ribbon for him and a first place ribbon in a different division for his friend Claire.
Early afternoon brought her phone call where she seemed to be primarily concerned that no one was hurt and that the car was still safe to drive. Since she asked me no questions about the accident, I assumed that the lady who rear-ended me had claimed responsibility. The agent took thorough notes with assurances that my car would be fixed and I would have a rental car while it was in the shop.
All was going well, until she began her inquiry about Benjamin. I told her that so far no permanent damage was evident, but I didn’t want to clear him until we had time to see if any aftereffects showed up. She agreed and then asked the question. “Could I have his mother’s number to call and check to see if we need to pay for a medical check or treatment?”
Ah, me, I let it go! She had been so nice and helpful, reassuring me that amends would be made as far as it was in the ability of the insurance company. I didn’t have the heart to take her to task. So, I gave her Kelly’s number and waited to rant on my blog. So here’s the rant!
Benjamin has two parents who are equally responsible for him. Either of them can check for injuries or take him to the doctor. Either of them can supervise bath time, fix a snack, or be the parent in attendance at the school Thanksgiving feast. If Kelly has errands to run and Mark is keeping the boys, he is not “baby-sitting” for her, he is being the dad. And if you are an insurance agent needing to check on a boy, the question is, “Can you give me the number for one of his parents (or a guardian since the social worker daughter-in-law reminded me that the child might be in the care of a grandparent)?”