Total Pageviews

A Bus Accident That Came With a Gift

Dear Diary:

On a Sunday night several months ago, I was driving my two daughters home to New Jersey. Our spirits were high. But as we were making a turn onto West 40th Street, heading toward the Lincoln Tunnel, a commuter bus took the same turn a little too tightly and hit my car.

It all happened in slow motion. No one was hurt, but my car got crunched. All the goodness of the evening evaporated in that one moment. The bus driver and I pulled over. She had no passengers, as she was done for the day. I boarded the bus and we exchanged information.

She was visibly shaken, and although we didn’t share much conversation, she said: “I feel really badly about this. I’m going to give you a free facial.” And with that, she handed me her business card, which indicated that she was a consultant for a particular line of beauty products.

I thanked her and stared at the card, wondering if I even wanted a facial from this person. And then a moment later she said: “You know what I’m just going to give it to you now.”

I was speechless. Was she actually about to give me a facial on an empty bus on West 40th Street at 11:30 at night with my two daughters in my nearby illegally parked car

The next thing I knew, she reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope filled with samples of various creams and lotions. She handed them to me and said: “Here you go. Enjoy your facial.”

Somehow the absurdity of that moment lifted my spirits back to where they were before the accident.

Read all recent entries and our updated submissions guidelines. Reach us via e-mail diary@nytimes.com or follow @NYTMetro on Twitter using the hashtag #MetDiary.