So, I’m sure this is something that sits in everyone’s mind at least once a week, if not day, if not hour, but vehicular (I spelt it that way intentionally) devices are becoming more about aestethics than practicality. I know that I myself have accidentally bumbled into many a useless arguement about why I drive what I do and not something a little more “main-stream”.
In my defense, however, it’s my Mom’s car, and I currently lack the funds to purchase one of my own. Especially with the way insurance is!
I’ll gripe about insurance another day, I’m sure. However, there remains a point I wish to get across that I feel we’ve lost as a modern, consumer-driven (ha ha, bad pun) society.
I don’t care HOW many speakers are in your truck. Does it go forward, backward and have breaks? Yes? That’s good enough for me.
Now, having driven primarily mini-vans my entire driving career (a very seasoned 2 years), I don’t really know what else I’d drive when I get my own vehicle. Other people seem to have clear ideas that are simply not for me, and from what I’ve heard, the primary reasoning is what would pick-up the most chicks.
Now, I don’t think I could ever lower myself to the point where I’d drive a pick-up-truck, and I hate driving smaller cars, so I’m pretty much screwed into driving the larger fossil-fuel sucking behemoths that can cost anywhere from incredulous to rediculous amounts of money to fill up.
But, then I remember, there is always the mini-van. Sure, primarily a shameless vehicle reserved suburban families, but let me tell you the tale of the Green Van.
Never was there a more aptly named vehicle. It was a green mini-van. A rusting, block of bolts on wheels without all of the modern comforts many dirvers simply could not live without, like proper heating or a CD player.
I loved that van. It was 13 (yes, you see it there) years old and drove like a dream. Accelerated alarmingly quickly for a mini-van, only costed $60.- to refuel (and that was during the $1.06 gas days) and could run on that under moderate driving for a week. The heating didn’t work until about 10 minutes down the road, the speakers were shot (primarily the bass speakers), only had a cassette player and if you could open the side sliding door the first time, it was going to be a good day!
A long list of flaws that didn’t really have any effect on the fact that I loved the van. I was almost depressed when it died last summer and we had to send it off to the scrap yard. My friends and I had so many good times in that van; love, sorrow, excitement and intrigue.
Anyone else would have probably taken one glance at it and thought “wtf, what a piece of junk!”. And to a response like that, my friend would have likely punced your teeth out before agreeing.
The vehicle itself isn’t what makes it a beautiful vehicle, it’s the memories created within. And this is why I am quite proud driving a mini-van “Loser Cruiser”. When I buy my own vehicle, it will likely be a mini-van, ifor no other reason than trunk space for more good memories.
Just chew on that while you scoff at a passing mini-van and oggle a convertable.
