Why You Should Always Check Your Car If Someone Says It Was Hit

The ironic little tale below appeared on the Chevy Chase Listserv with a plea from the poster to the person who hit their car to come back and identify himself a second time.  The man had previously knocked on their door to let them know that he had hit their car mirror, but the husband replied that the mirror was already broken, so there was no need to worry about it. The husband didn't go out to look at the car, but if he had, he would have realized that this time, the damage was to the driver's side mirror. 

The mirror of our car -- a blue Volvo station wagon -- was hit this evening  in front of our house [at an address in Chevy Chase, DC] and we are hoping that the  person who came to our door will contact us again. To make a confusing story short, an older gentleman rang our bell to ask whether he had hit the driver's side mirror with his car. My husband thought the gentleman was referring to the passenger's side mirror, which my husband hit a few weeks ago, and assured the gentleman all was well. It turns out the gentleman did smash our driver's side mirror, which my husband discovered an hour later.  While we appreciate the gentleman's honesty and my husband's mistake, we would like to be compensated for our driver's side mirror. Any leads would be appreciated.

It doesn't seem too likely, however, that the driver, who could be from anywhere in the region, would see a message on a neighborhood email list.