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Personal Freedoms: Let’s Talk Cars
Prepping for operations can be a lot of work. Yesterday I had an appointment with my pain doctor to discuss the plan of action for my surgery later this week, and it ended up taking almost the whole day (due to traffic en route). I’ve always said, “Medical days that should take an hour are always the ones that take the entire day” and so far I’m (mostly) right.
I drove myself borrowing my parents car, and bringing my daughters along with, because we are still down to one vehicle. And even though my loving Dad offered to drive, and I’m in pain, there is nothing I wanted more in the world than to drive myself.
“Can you imagine it?” I said to my eldest, as we cruised along, windows down, playlist blasting, “If you give me a couple of months, we will be doing this in warm weather way more often!”
Maybe it’s wishful thinking and maybe I’m being trite… but I have always loved driving (road trips are my jam) and it’s even better in the summer.
I have always joked about how, in most ‘heterosexual married couples’, the woman naturally shifts into shotgun and the husband shifts into driver over time, often without it even being super cognizant to them or on purpose. For me, I much prefer to be the driver… even if it happens less and less lately. I love the meditation of driving. I love the process and focus. I love (if it’s not obvious enough) the independence and freedom.
So, today’s question is super specific and just for fun:
Do you prefer to drive or be the rider?
And
What was the first car you ever had? Any positive memories you’re willing to share?The first car I ever had was a yellow VW Beetle named Miss Daisy, inherited from my parents (she was my Mom’s car and wow did we love her), but years later, when I was a single mother and truly “striking out on my own”, I had a beat-up Jeep from the 80’s. It was literally as old as me and not that safe to drive, but I loved it. Even without air conditioner or a great radio, we rolled down those windows and felt… free.
What about you?
PS: My current car- though I’m not the one currently driving it since we are down to just one- is named Reznor, after Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails. Growing up, we’ve had cars named Veruca and Vedder (Salt and Eddie, respectively), as well as Buella (which was a nod to “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson). Does anyone else name their cars?
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2 Replies
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My preference is to be the driver, but since my partner gets motion sickness in the passenger seat, he drives when we’re together. Windows down with the music cranked up is one of my favorite feelings in the world! I also name my cars and many other inanimate objects in my home, and you may or may not be surprised to learn that I once had a car named Violet Beauregarde. 😂 She and your Veruca would have made a stunning pair, I just know it!
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Yes, driving a car can really provide a feeling of freedom. I started early in life with a kettcar and was a master in parallel parking at 7. At that age I took a year “off” from school in order to not getting infected constantly, and I had many great adventures and heavy crashes with my kettcar. The scars are still visible on my knees.
Debbie and I both love to drive and had a lot of different types of cars: hatchback, station, mpv, cabrio, coupé, suv – we tried them all and had a lot of fun in different phases of our live.
Since 7 years we share one car without feeling that we are “down” to that. Our current car feels a bit too large for Debbie though, so mostly I find myself driving. This is not to my liking, because I think it’s good for Debbie to also feel free in the drivers seat and I like being driven along as well. For the car it would be better also because I like to drive as economic as possible, while Debbie (who is a much better driver than I am, except from parallel parking that is) wants to rev it up, which cleans the engine. So actually you caught us in a good moment, because we currently are looking for another car that is a bit smaller and has a higher sitting position. Debbie is recovering from her recent fall relatively well, but getting in and out a low seat is still not easy and we think this might take quite a long time to improve. In combination with the earlier mentioned size-problem this provides the push to try and find another car. We are not in a hurry so it is a relaxed problem. Keep you posted.
ps We have never named our cars – but you both made us think 😉
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