Defined By My Wheels

I watched today as several very well dressed men, i.e. suits, all jumped into their Cadillacs to drive away. I thought to myself, “At least their cars match their dress.” That got me thinking about the different vehicles I have driven over the years and what they say or said about me. Here’s what I came up with.

In school, I drove a manual transmission GMC Sonoma pick-up truck. I was proud to drive a little pick up truck. Most of the time, you would find my dog in the cab with me. When I had to go long distances, my luggage was always wrapped in garbage bags to protect it from the rain. This probably led people to think I was heading to a dump somewhere with my trash. I could listen to my country music and feel right at home in my truck.

Upon graduation from Divinity School and entering into my first real job, I knew I had to come across as a little more professional. After looking at some bigger trucks, I went in the opposite direction and I began to drive a VW Jetta. I was young and wanting to be hip driving around town. The Jetta was perfect. It said, “I’m cool”, or at least that is what I thought it said.

After Megan and I married, and mostly due to her Honda Accord being totaled, it came time for us to purchase our first car together. We’re not really SUV people because of the whole environmental impact/gas mileage stuff. We knew we needed something a little bigger especially because we were hoping to have a family, so we bought a Subaru Outback. We had racks put on to hold our bikes and our kayak. In my mind, this said, “We’re down to earth, fun folks that love the outdoors.” We wanted to look trendy, even if we were going to be a family. No need to sacrifice cool points just because of kids, right?

Well, that was my feeling for a while at least. Now that we have two kids, I quickly became aware that my VW Jetta was no longer big enough. I could not even get both car-seats in the back. The time came to go big or to go home. Actually, we just had to go bigger. As we looked around, it became obvious to us that we only had one option that made sense. Swallowing my pride and giving up the notion that I will be ‘cool’ for any time in the foreseeable future, we went with the Honda Odyssey. That’s right, I now drive a mini-van. While Megan has offered to be the van driver in the family, I have found that I enjoy the perks of the new vehicle too much to allow this to happen. In truth, it really is a great ride with all the bells and whistles a new vehicle can offer. Besides, we are family now. I’m not ashamed of that in the least bit. I love the fact that we begin the ‘nighttime routine’ around 6:15 each night and around 8:15 Megan and I are downstairs to enjoy a few quality hours together. That’s just our life now and it is great. I wouldn’t trade it, or my new mini-van, for anything.

Brad