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when losing Y30,000 is okay

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

I've just had some news that I believe shows something interesting about receiving bad news. I had the flu over New Year's Eve and the following days. We were travelling, and I managed to lose track of a few small possessions. One of these was the "smart key" for our Kinto car. It turned up that I'd left it in my pants pocket and put it in the washing machine. An easily avoidable problem. My wife looked up the cost on the Internet and anecdotally found that it could be as much as 100,000 yen. At that point, I was really kicking myself. But because our car is a long-term rental (Toyota's Kinto program) I thought perhaps it would be covered by the insurance. But this weekend, that hope died. Mari talked to the Toyota people and the fellow she spoke to said that he'd done the same thing: twice. We would have to pay. But the amount was "only" 30,000 yen.

Hearing the lower-than-expected cost, and that this is perhaps something of common problem, assuaged my disappointment at myself and the total invoice. I think it hits differently than if we had simply been handed us a bill for 30,000 yen. Obviously, Mari remains unimpressed with my antics but that's been the case for many years.