Since nineteen twelve cars have been manufactured for the public. Since that time, the car has slowly become a staple in the common American society. All throughout my life cars have been there. They have reigned supreme and were a source of joy, happiness, and belonging. The family car was a good place for a nap and an adventure. My dad’s car was the “work truck”. That poor car has gone through so much in my life time. It is the oldest of cars to me, being as it has been here from since I can remember to now. That car was what I had hoped to have been “my car” eventually. But the world had other plans. My dad lost his job the year he was going to buy himself a new car. My dad, being the way he is, instantly struck that thought from his mind and saved the money for something else. At the time I despised this decision. I was a car-less sophomore in high school with his temps wanting to drive his own car. Later down the road, I would come to realize the complexity of his decision. But for now, I wanted a car, badly. I would relentlessly harp at my dad to look into a car for me, and with the job I had I offered to pay for part of it. He would have none of it, and when I grew in age, he told me that it killed him to not be able to get a car for me. Now, I don’t think so much about not having a car, I think of the benefits that not having a car have brought me. For example, I have a lot of money in my savings account that I use for a lot of things I want, but not necessarily need. I ride my bike to school, staying healthy and active. The only things I’m missing from having a car is payment, repairs, and long distance freedom. I can get places with my bike, but not long distance travel.
My dad had to get a job to get his own car and pay for his own insurance and stuff for the car, gas, repairs. He saw the car as a way to be responsible at the age he was. He was always the more responsible of his friends, so having a car would allow him to be responsible on a whole new level. He can run errands for his parents, helping them to get things done faster. He could get a better paying job that was too far away at the time. He could be the “Designated Driver” for his friends, keeping his friends safe. All of these reasons were reason enough for my dad to save everything he made to get this car. This was the start of my dad using the car to be responsible for everything. He makes sure the car is running properly himself, because what’s a family without a working car? This sparked another idea for responsibility boosting in his life. He saved again, with his long term job, and got the family another car. Coincidentally, the first car he owned had just gotten paid off. This was a proud moment for my dad. He had accomplished his dream of keeping his responsibility up while keeping the family mobile, if not making the family more mobile.
My brother, who is seventeen, has shown no interest in getting his temps, let alone getting his own car. He is a high school junior who has no job and is an active member of the marching band, and he is not “conforming” to the stereotype of “I’m a teen, I need a car to be free and fit in.” He doesn’t really have a lot of time to be in the car driving, but neither do I. He knows that we are in a stressful spot financially and with him not having a job, he may see that as a no go for getting his temps and car. To him, it is not a necessity to life. He will get a car and his license as soon as he can comfortably. It may, quite possibly, be a hand me down from me, his older brother, just like some of the other things he has gotten over the years.
My mother absolutely despises the car at times. She will make all of her necessary trips conform to one day and then never leave the house driving again. She is the member of the family who has wrecked the car a few times. She has gone through a total of three cars in the eighteen years I’ve been alive, all of which before I can remember. Whenever I would drive her anywhere, she would be a nervous wreck and freak out about every object approaching the car. I understand that she cares, but that’s just a little much. She didn’t start driving until she was twenty-five, and she makes sure I know about that every time I ask to drive, let alone try to ask for a car. She tells me that she walked twelve blocks to school because there were no busses, her mom couldn’t drive, her dad wouldn’t drive her, and she couldn’t drive herself. By this time I’m usually asleep and I’m done trying, for now.
My best friend Megan, she got her car through the hand me downs of her big brother when she was seventeen. Ever since that moment, the car has been a necessity in her life for everything. She would ask if I wanted to go do something just so she could drive me somewhere, and then criticize me for not having my license or a car yet. I benefited from her “luck” because I got a ride to school every morning and a ride home when our schedules lined up. We also work at the same place, and she started getting more hours than I did due to her car, then I started getting rides to work because our boss scheduled together more often. So in many ways she wasn’t the only one who benefited from her “luck”.
Overall, everyone has been affected by cars whether we know it or not. You may not think about it much, but whether it is good, bad, or indifferent, it has changed you in some way.
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