Keep An Open Mind
May 21, 2020 Uncategorized, Vehicles 4 comments mgreenleaf20
Ever got into a car and thought “wow this is still legal!”, yeah me too! However for me that was my first car I bought on my own. I paid for everything on this car, to give you some insight it was a 2001 Oldsmobile alero. You’re probably thinking what is an Oldsmobile, well it’s an older car that got discontinued because it had bad ratings and so many recalls. I had this car for about two months, I had to keep bringing it to the garage for either the brakes, power steering or something else that enabled my driving so inreality I got to actually drive this car for two weeks the whole time I owned it. I was terrified to drive it everytime and my mom was terrified about me driving it. She gave me that look like she wouldn’t see me return from the trip to the grocery store. Eventually one day when I went to the store my brakes, power steering went and I lost control of the car. I couldn’t steer it very well and the brakes were gone. My window also fell into the door as well. I barely got home, after that trip I joked with my mom about me getting a car from a dealer. The reason this was a joke was because I’ve always believed teens shouldn’t have new cars because 40% of teens get into an accident their first year! However I did not expect what she said next, I guess I was not expecting the unexpected!
When I joked with my mom saying my car is a death trap and I should just get a new car from the dealer, she replied that we should concerned it. Not going to lie I got pretty excited, the thought never occurred to me till after my car pooped the bed. My mom told me that I had to sell my old car and then we could go look around for a car. I sold my car, I went and looked around at dealers then found a private dealer in Poland, it was a small business who I had to see if I was eligible for a loan. Turns out my stepdad was and he cosigned on a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta fully loaded, Iwas so excited however it took a month to actually get my car because the dealer had just got it and it needed some break work and inspection. I grew impatient not having a car for that long with a very busy schedule, every day became a ball of anxiety of how will I get to school or work. Eventually me and my mom got a call saying that my car is ready for pickup, I was so happy I had a smile on my face and my body was jumping with excitement! However I forgot that I had to work a six hour shift that day which meant I could not be there to pick up instead my mom and stepdad had to pick it up. I was angry about it and a little jealous that they could drive it first. Also a little anxious whether or not if everything was in order to take it home I didn’t want to wait any longer, they actually ended up surprising me at work. They came in with some poutine from Pinky Dees and waving the keys in the air saying “its here!”I was in shock and my coworkers all shouted “woah!”. I wanted to run outside and go drive it, check it out and see it, but I could not because I still had three hours left to work. I got out of work at ten at night, I was exhausted and it was snowing out. I was super nervous to drive this car. I have never driven in the snow for the first time driving. I started it up it was perfect. I have never driven a new car I was overwhelmed with it, it felt unreal! I started to drive it very carefully and there were so many different high tech buttons, cool features and I had no idea what was for what so I accidentally put on cruise control and had no idea how to turn it off or that I had turned it on it was quite funny.
When I thought about my experience it reminded me so much of this show I watch called The Vampire Diaries, it reminded me of it because there is a boy named Matt in it and he has a truck that is kind of run down needs a lot of work but its all he could afforded so he drives it. In one episode this vampire named Rebecca who can compel people to do what she wants and give her what she wants so she compled a dealer to give her a brand new nice truck that she could give to Matt for apologizing about her being mean to him for his truck and he was not expecting it. However he was so thrilled and filled with surprises and pure joy when he was given this truck. It reminded me of my situation because I had a beaten down car and I was not expecting to be able to buy myself a brand new car, I had the same emotions and feelings that Matt did in the episode. The lesson to learn from this is to keep in open mind because life can surprise you in many ways.
Photo by harry_nl on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
4 Comments
Ah yes the infamous first car. I also had a similar experience but I never went through with it. I wanted a car so bad that I was willing to take the handed down car from my step dad at the time. The issue is this car had like 230k miles, and something would go wrong with it every other week. So instead of risking it all on a chance that it would not break in the middle of the road I decided Id be better off taking out some money and getting a newer reliable car because it would not kill me in the long run.
I totally understand how you were feeling when your car was always breaking down because as you know mine is the same way and I am currently looking at dealerships for a new one so I totally understand the excitement and the hassle it is when your car breaks down and you don”t have one.
Wow that really is unexpected, your window falling through your door! Must have been crazy! You never know what you’re going to get with cars, they’re just like people in a way they can get sick and break down with out warning! Too bad it is way more expensive to fix a broken down vehicle then a sick person haha. I’ve definitely had my fair share of car troubles myself, once my car went into panic mode and wouldn’t let me start it, I went a week without a car. I get the anxiety part of having to find rides everywhere. I ended up fixing the problem though and have the same vehicle, I don’t mind though I love my car 🙂
I was in the same boat as you where I had an old car that I knew was going to die on me in one of the coming days, and car troubles are such a pain. The car eventually died and I had to go without a car / sharing one with my mom when she was not using it. And having to do that on top of work and other things going on does really suck so I understand your struggle.