Written by 윤행아
My husband and I came over here in America in 1986. It was about 8 years after we got married. Even though I could not speak English very well, I did not feel any trouble in American life until I met Holly. One day in the fall of 1990, something happened to me.
When I was pulling my car back in the Mall Parking lot, suddenly I felt a car hit my car. I knew it was not my fault, because, before I started to move my car back, I looked back and made sure of no car there. When I got out of my car, the driver, who hit my car, walked to me and apologized, “I am sorry. This is my fault.” She gave me her insurance number, her name and phone number. Her name is Holly. Then, she called police immediately. While we were waiting for the police, we pulled back our cars to their original places, because the situation was so sure, and our cars caused much inconvenience to other vehicles. However, it was a big mistake. I recognized it later.
Finally, the police arrived and asked me to show my insurance card. I could not find my card easily for some reason. While I was trying to find my card, the policeman talked with Holly and finished his “police statement.” He explained the situation and asked me to sign on the statement. According to the police, this accident was not only Holly’s fault but my fault, too. There was no evidence that Holly hit my car, because we moved our cars already. The police statement said, “Holly and I hit each other.” Holly changed her words to the police. She lied. I felt cheated by Holly at that moment.
Holly was a student of University of Georgia. My husband, hearing all these things, called her in the evening of the same day. According to her mother, she left for her vacation already, and was not home. It must be another lie.
This incident shocked me. I recognized that I am a foreigner in this land. I could not claim my rights due to my limited language skill. I perceived that the policeman improperly treated me, an Alien from Asia. At that moment, I was embarrassed and frustrated. And this feeling lasted very long since then. I could not keep my nice and good expectation towards Americans as before.
By the way, the car, which Holly hit, was our first new car that we just bought. That accident left a 2 inches-long dent on the left backside of the car. Every time I saw this dent, I got angry and frustrated. It forced me to pray before God so that I may forgive her, and be released from this recurring emotional trap. Before not many days passed, something good happened unexpectedly. My husband fixed the dent by accident, while he was washing the car. He simply pushed out the area of the dent from inside of the trunk. He used a piece of wood. It sounded “Ppyong~.” The area, which was bent inwardly, came out. Halleluiah!
After the car was fixed, I was free from anger or frustration, which was caused by the incident. However, the fact that Holly is a liar still remained in my memory. Two years had passed. One day we ran across Holly in Wendy’s. My husband and I were standing on the line for ordering lunches. She was two or three people ahead of us. I whispered to my husband, “That girl is Holly, do you remember that name?” My husband replied, “Of course, I do. Is she the one? What do you want me to do about her?” I said, “Go to her and ask her to say ‘sorry’ to my wife. That’s it.” After Holly and her friend took a seat and began to eat their food, my husband approached her with smile and asked her, “Do you remember the lady sitting over there?” She looked at me, and showed embarrassment. She said, “Yes, I remember her.” Then, my husband gently and nicely reminded her of the old incident, and told her that I suffered a lot because of the thing between her and me. He asked her, “Would you say ‘sorry’ to my wife?” Her answer was “No.” Then my husband really nicely added some more words for her: “That’s OK. My car was fixed without any cost. Do not worry about it. However, you need to consider how frustrated my wife, as a foreigner in America, felt at that time. Good bye.” He came back to me.
Then, I was completely set free from that incident. This is the story of Holly.
