I have made several small but significant decisions in the past week but this one definitely makes the top of that list. I will be getting rid of my car.
The black 1995 GLX Volkswagen Jetta that has accompanied me since freshman year at ULV will finally be leaving my side, and I must say I will miss it.
For the average person this wouldn’t be a big deal, but for me, my car is not just a car, it is much more than that. I wonder why I am so attached to a luxury that didn’t come into existence until the late 17th century.
I think back to my high school years when I had to take the bus to school everyday. When I hitched a ride from my friends once in a while, and when I had to be dropped off and picked up from every after school activity I was ever part of, and I don’t remember it being that bad.
But for some odd reason after I got my car I never wanted to hitch a ride again. The feeling of being able to get into my own car and leave at any time was just too good. My car does not just take me from point A to point B.
My car can be anything; A dining room if I eat lunch in it, a bedroom if I sleep in it, even a study room if I read in it. It is my independence, it is the reason I can step out of my house 20 minutes before my doctor’s appointment that is 40 minutes, away and still know I’m going to make it only 10 minutes late.
It doesn’t make fun of me when I sing along to the cheesy ‘80s song that is playing on the radio, and is definitely not going to yell at me if I spill my coffee on its seat in the morning.
For Southern Californians, cars are a culture. Nearly everyone owns one, and if they don’t they want one. There are conventions to showcase them, and car clubs to race them. California could very well be the car capital of the world. Gas prices are too high? Lets carpool. We’re killing the environment? Buy a hybrid.
Catching the bus or taking the metro to work would be completely out of the question. It won’t leave when we want it to, it leaves when it is scheduled and quite frankly we are living at such a fast pace that having to wait 15 minutes for a bus is way too long of a wait.
Let’s face it, our society isn’t disciplined enough for public transportation. Buses hardly make their scheduled time, and we are not willing to wake up half an hour earlier to catch the bus on time. I have been known to say that I would rather walk than take the bus, and I think I still stand by that.
Of course, this only became an issue this week after I took a conscious decision to say goodbye to my Jetta. The car that has been by my side for almost four years, the car that takes me home and brings me back every weekend without complaint. Goodbye old friend. I will miss you.
I will miss the way your black leather seats burned my rumpus during summer days and were too cold during winter.
I will miss the pink fuzzy dice that used to swing from the rear view mirror.
I will even miss the way your windows got stuck every other weekend and how your tail light went out every time it rained.
You will no longer have to get lost with me. Your back seat will no longer be a home to my shoes, blouses, sweaters, pens, pencils and notebooks. You are relieved of your duty. You are free to roam.
Laura Bucio, a senior journalism major, is news editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at lbucio@ulv.edu.
