Lives of Quiet Desperation

It is Sunday, day of rest.

However, I rested yesterday, between work.
So I will write today because I have a story to tell you today about my yesterday. It’s a story about the quiet desperation I encounter daily on my rounds.

I was sent to a man at a regional library on the Kitsap Peninsula here in Washington State at about 1:00 Saturday, yesterday.

The notes from the attorney, came via Blackberry and said the potential client, male, was hit by a Suburban while in a new Hyundai he had a loan for. The Hyundai and Suburban were towed; everyone went to the hospital by ambulance.

The notes said the man I was meeting had two blown discs in the lower back. He broke his right wrist. He is steel worker with the Union for over 20 years. Since the accident, he hadn’t worked over 4 weeks now. Both parties, the Client/Plaintiff and the Defendant had full coverage. The DEF’s insurance company had accepted liability yet still hadn’t paid out the property damage settlement.

In the personal injury business, this case looked like a slam-dunk, a no-brainer. Liability clear, accepted, DEF cited, major damage to vehicles, which substantiated damages to human bodies.

The man I met at the table in the library was in his mid 50’s. He was attractive, clean-shaven, with a thick head of white hair. He appeared affluent and well educated. He had a beautiful smile yellowed by cigarette smoke.

I began my interview -- first established a rapport, then pulled out the form the attorneys provided with everything they wanted to know about the case.
I got to the part where I asked if he was single, married, had a significant other… the usual questions re: associates and contacts.
He told me he was single, and then looked at my left hand and the ring. I shook my head and he said, “Shucks.”
I smiled, handed him my business card, said I’d be happy to check out any of his future girlfriends if he’d like because there are a ton of single women out there looking for a guy like him.
I also told him to tell no one about any settlement he might get. That would make him a target.
He laughed and told me all the women he meets lately are a little “off.”

Then we talked about his accident. I looked at the police report, went through his medical papers, read the witness interviews, asked him a ton of questions and knew -- from experience and gut -- that this case would be a good fit for both him and the attorneys.
Worried, he asked if I thought the attorneys had a case.

I smiled and said, I did. The attorneys sent me out because they wanted represent him. They hired me to make sure all the evidence existed and facts were right.

I asked where we should send legal documents. That brought out the revelations. He was embarrassed to tell me sooner.

I’m homeless, he said.
I mentioned the spiffy PT cruiser I’d observed him in, parked into the parking lot with when I arrived earlier to meet him. (I tend to do surveillance on people I meet before I actually meet them).

He said it was the rental car the Defendant’s insurance company gave him while his car was in the shop. His car should have been totaled, but he was “upside down” on his loan by $6,000, which he would have to pay out of pocket if the car could not be fixed.

He said he wanted his car fixed because it was his home. He said he either slept in the PT Cruiser or at his son’s house. Though he preferred not to burden his son.

He was homeless, he said, because he was been unable to work since the accident one month ago.

I asked if he received any lost wages as result of the accident, he said no.
I looked at his insurance policy and pointed out to him a provision called P.I.P.—Personal Injury Protection.
I explained how he can get up to 10,000 in lost wages before his case settles because he has P.I.P. And that the first 10k in medical bills will also be paid through the P.I.P, so he can go to doctor’s now and the P.I.P. will pay … even though his health insurance might not pay for treatment because they say it is a third party claim.

I said after the P.I.P runs out, many doctors will work and treat on a lien against the case. I explained, he had three years from the date of his accident to settle or sue. I said if he’s better in three months or six months, no worries, the lawyers will settle. If it takes longer to get better, if he loses his job, if he loses everything, then he and the attorneys will determine whether to go to trial or not.

He told me his insurance company didn’t tell him that. I said insurance companies do that a lot. In my opinion, they lie, cheat, steal or simply keep their important info the client needs to themselves.

Tears welled in his eyes. This is not uncommon for me as an investigator, to see grown, tough men cry. I never saw that before in my in my brothers, my father, all my men in my personal life. Only in my work.
In my professional life, whole different story. Men cry. Sometimes from pain. Sometimes from hope.
This time it was the hope.

Then there was silence. Until he said he had one more thing to tell me.

He said he was going to commit suicide night before last.
A friend intervened. Through a twist of fate, or divine intervention, that friend was a client of the attorney who called me. That friend said to give the attorney, who called me, a call.

I asked my client if he has received an application for PIP benefits from his insurance company yet. He said no. I am not surprised and tell him the attorneys will get them to send it.

It’s good feeling when you see all the light bulbs go off in your client’s head at once.

He told me he has only recently begun talking to attorneys and I am the first P.I. and attorney sent out. I told him the attorney hired me to look out for their interests and I also look out for his. I said to him, it’s going to be okay.

“I almost killed myself over this, “ he said to me.
“I’m so glad you didn’t,” I replied, “because we wouldn’t have met… and you would never know how the story ends. And I think this one is likely to end in a settlement.”

He said, “Then the light ant the end of my tunnel is not another train?”

I said, “No guarantees, however -- in my opinion, the tide has turned in your favor.”
If he can hang on and keep treating to get well, then settle his case, or sue if necessary, he may be able to start a new life with his settlement.

We parted in the parking lot. He said he was going the YMCA next to take a shower but it costs
$3.50 and he didn’t want to pay it because he needed to eat. I wanted to reach in my pocket and hand him what change I had. However, that is not a good thing for an investigator to do…. to give any client or witness money. It might imply, to a jury, a payout.

Before I left I told him the city of Bremerton is opening places for homeless people to park their cars and live out of them. He got excited about that. I said to hang on, it’s going to’ get worse for everyone before it gets better.

We shook hands.
He said he is glad he did not kill himself the other day.
I smiled back and said, me too.
I said, you are a class act buddy; you just hit a run of bum luck.
And I added, many of us are one paycheck away from being homeless.
He should not be ashamed, but proud of himself, for not checking out when that would have ended all his pain.

He thanked me profusely. I thanked him with equal "perfusiveness" for his trust, climbed in my car and headed home.
I will not be sleeping in my car tonight.
For that I am grateful.