Mirror Mirror on the Wall, What a Way to Fall

My mirror was broken by my little 4-year old student last week. She had knocked it over since it was not attached to the wall, but leaning securely against it. We had been waiting for her dad to pick her up and he was late by 15 minutes. Outside, her 13 year-old sister was waiting at the sofa.

Anyway, I was barely in the toilet for ten seconds when I heard a loud crash and then crying. Discarding whatever I intended to do, I dashed out to find my mirror shattered and the little girl sobbing away. I checked her out immediately and was relieved to find that she was only bruised on the shoulder. Apparently, she had been running about, playing with my dog when it happened.

The father who came to learn about it offered to compensate me. So I went off to get my new mirror at $199. When I informed him of it, he turned the tables on me and said that his daughter was lucky to get away unscathed from a major mishap, and that since there were young children coming to my place, I should ensure their safety. So since he had offered to pay, he will fork out $50 in compensation.

When I told my friend about this, she went, "Typical indians". I have nothing against Indians as a race and some of my very good friends in JC were Indians. I admire their gift of the gab, their family unity and their energy. However, it does seem like when it comes to money, they tend to be really calculating. I have had other unpleasant brushes with them in the past involving money.

I thought that yes, while I should be partly responsible for the incident, at best, the father should have offered to halve the bill with me. This mirror is 2m high. If his daughter didn't knock it with enough impact, it would never have fallen by itself. It was a good thing that my dog didn't get hurt, or that it didn't destroy other pieces of furniture in my place. Secondly, the father was late. Thirdly, the elder sister should be keeping an eye on her little sister. And besides, I had to clean up the mess, make a trip to dispose of the mirror, and choose a replacement, transport it back, all for a little girl's mistake.

Anyway, I choose not to nit-pick with him. If he thinks that's fair enough, I have nothing to say. And here's my new mirror with an imposing silver frame. Check out my other blog for pictures of my old mirror, with artistic crack lines.