Faithful Old Cars
A tennis buddy of mine told me this week that he is getting rid of his old car. “It has 150,000 miles on the odometer, but in all these years it never gave me any trouble.”
I remarked immediately, “How can you get rid of your old pal so easily?” He sort of winced and just shrugged his shoulders in an “I don’t really know,” attitude.
Americans and their autos are a true and delicate romance item. After a while, your car becomes you, and when people see your vehicle they know you won’t be far behind.
When is the proper time to rid yourself of the old family buggy? Is it a matter of many miles or many years? I always imagined that when the repair bills got too heavy, that was the time for a “divorce.”
In the old days, a car was old when it registered 60,000 miles. Vibrations and rattles started to occur at about that time. Nowadays, cars seem to make 100,000 miles and still be hale and hearty. Why jettison these automobiles while they are still moving well? Are we ashamed for our neighbors to see us in a less than current vehicle?
I drove a Chevy Nova, which had served my daughter in school for over 10 years. I had to take quite a lot of ribbing, but as long as it took me from point A to point B with no trouble, we stayed together. Parting was difficult, but the time had come.
Some people name their cars with such names as “Old Bessie” or “Gertrude” or “Maggie.” This is anthropomorphizing the automobile, or giving it human qualities.
I can also appreciate and understand that some of my buddies want a new car with that new smell and new tires. I hope my tennis buddy enjoys his new car and doesn’t have too many difficulties saying goodbye to his old pal.
