cars (and people) can be a pain in the butt

for the second time in 6 months, i have found my car damaged in some way by an unknown person who caused the wreckage and then up and left without so much as an "i'm sorry" note. the first was my side view mirror, broken by someone tearing up 38th street when my car was parked on the street in front of my house (repair = $270). the neighborhood kids were nice enough to place the mirror on my front step so that i knew something had happened as soon as i got home from work.
the second is a pretty significant scratch/dent in the rear left part of the car, above the back wheel, where i'm guessing someone opened their door into my vehicle (with significant force, enough to impact the metal, not just the piece of crap plastic bumper), while it was parked at the mon wharf. this happened yesterday and it really bummed me out. 
my feelings and conclusions about the whole thing: 

1. people are inconsiderate and don't take responsibility for their actions: maybe you don't have money to pay for my car repair, but i would have appreciated some kind of acknowledgment of remorse for messing up something that belongs to me.
2. i love good public transit: yes, single occupancy vehicles make life convenient in some ways, but the cost of gas, insurance, etc.  not to mention the hassle of maintenance and repairs really tip the cost-benefit scales for me... none of this was part of my world when i lived in a place that had trains and buses to take me from virtually any point A to point B to meet my quotidian needs in a relatively timely fashion.  those were the days...
   
3. i always blame myself for things that are not my fault: all that went through my head after seeing the damage was "i shouldn't be driving to work," and "i shouldn't have parked at the wharf," or "did *i* hit something?" why the heck do i always want to point the finger at me?
   
4. hardship is relative: after considering the financial impact and how i might have to adjust my budget for other things in the coming months and how annoying that is, i thought about the earthquake in haiti and how i should count my lucky stars i'm alive and healthy, able to get from one place to another at all.
   

so i'm just going to file a claim with my insurance company and stop feeling bad about my life's woes.