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Little Red, where are you now?
By heather | February 18, 2008
Three BMWs - Two Volkswagon Jettas - Two Jeep Grand Cherokees - One Toyota Highlander - One Lexus SUV - One Saturn SUV - One Honda Accord
What do all of these (mostly) luxury cars have in common?
Answer: They were all parked in the lot of a student apartment building at the University of Virginia this Sunday morning, thier owners sleeping off a night of partying the way only college kids can.
What do you mean? Didn’t YOU drive a car like that in college??
I went to Charlottesville this weekend for a yoga workshop with Judith Hanson Lasater, which I’ll write more about later. The hotel room we stayed in happened to overlook an obviously student populated apartment building, as evidenced by hot pink curtains on one window, Christmas lights on another balcony, and the soft glow of beer signs radiating out over the balcony of another. (And also the remnants of smashed bottles and toppled over trash cans that happened amid shouts and screams in the wee hours of Sunday morning.)
The aforementioned cars were parked haphazardly, some double parked, in an obvious display of disposability.
The birthday I turned 17 my parents gave me the family car - a 1987 Plymouth Horizon that they bought brand new and until my birthday had carried our family of four wherever they needed to go. I remember it was a gorgeous Saturday in November, a warm and sunny late fall day. I was thrilled at the prospect of my own set of wheels. It was also a rare teenage moment where I was overwhelmed by my parent’s generosity and actually thankful for what was being given to me.
My best friend and I nicknamed the car Little Red, and I loved my car. I use the term “my car” loosely, because if I recall correctly all I paid for was the gas. Throughout that winter and my senior year, Little Red took us to parties, sledding, to school and back. Sometimes the car itself was a destination, when you’re 17 and can’t go to bars and everyone’s parents are home, the prospect of getting out of the house and just driving around was better than any alternative.
Through all four (and a half) years of college, I was the only one of my roommates that had a car.
Even now, lots of my friends who drive nice expensive cars justify it by describing the German engineering or the amount of cargo it holds to cart thier kids and gear. And these are people who actually have JOBS that they use to PAY for their cars.
Now that I have a child, I’m reminded daily how much parents sacrifice for thier kids. I’ll have moments where I remember something my parents said or did that at the time made me despise them for thier rules - the same discipline and rules that I now struggle with daily trying to teach my son - and I silently thank them again.
Yesterday as I looked at all those cars in the parking lot, I wondered if any of those kids appreciated what they were driving or even the fact that they had cars at all. I hope so.
The summer between my junior and senior year of college, Little Red started to have some problems. She was no longer reliable, according to my dad, and her time in the sun came to an end. This picture is the last time I stood next to her, before she was driven off to a “farm upstate” if you know what I mean.
Ah, Little Red. A symbol of simpler times.
Topics: nostalgia |
February 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
ah yes. i had a 76 honda civic and loved it. adored it. and i’ve often wondered the same thing. the pursuit of excess (and teaching those pursuits to our young) is troubling indeed.
jen’s last blog post..finding her there
February 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
My first car was a 1980 Mercury Lynx that cost my parents $1000. All I had to pay for was gas too, which was only .97 a gallon, maybe cheaper. We’re already teaching Reagan the value of a dollar and hopefully she’ll be grateful for the things she’s given and the things she earns on her own.
February 18th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I had the first early 83 Honda Accord, my Mom got it brand new and let me drive it when I turned 16. I had to get a job and pay for gas and insurance, that was the only way I was allowed to drive. I used to threaten my parents that I was going to leave when I got mad at them and take the car. My Dad said, that car was in his name, and would report the car stolen I left. I was always too scared to test him out. I sold that car for 1000 in 97 and gave it to my Dad since it was his car initially….he told me to keep it for my new car that I paid for when I got my first job out of college.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
My first car was a 1989 Jeep Wrangler. Good times in that car. I drive by the high schools around here and see brand new cars like crazy! Its horrible.
Miss’s last blog post..Happy Valentine’s Day. Or whatever.