(Minimal LBC content following...)
> How many SOLers have named cars? Some of ours are named, others just
> sort of referred to.
Hmmm. Our late lamented Austin America never received a name, despite
having the unique distinction of being possibly the only marque of car
capable of sustaining damage when rammed by a go-kart during a test
run at the high school metal shop. (We were building the go-kart, not
the car.)
Back when I didn't know any better, I took pity on an old bright yellow
Chevette and resurrected it. My wife promptly named it "Daisy", and
cried when we sold it.
Daisy was followed by Thumper, a wonderfully, thoroughly mean-spirited,
big-engined 1978 Pontiac Trans Am, whose front suspension could be
politely described as theoretical. I will never forget one time at a
deserted stop light, tromping on the gas pedal and watching all my
cassette tapes go rocketing down the console and land in the back seat.
Neither of my cars has a name these days. This depresses me, as if the
simple failure to anthropomorphize my inanimate objects means I'm getting
on in years, or hitting the thesaurus too much. Maybe I thought that part
of growing up was to stop doing silly things that have no redeeming pur-
pose, such as naming prized possessions. Perhaps this is part of the
slippery slope that leads down towards completely adult activities such
as flossing, or calculating which vehicles are most cost-efficient to own.
I hope not. One day I want to be accused of trying to create a second
childhood, but gee, I haven't consciously noticed the passing of my first
one yet. This is what I like to think, anyway; suddenly being reminded
that I haven't had a clever name for any of my cars in the past eight
years scares me. I know the River of Life moves quickly, but I didn't
realize I was getting so far downstream.
Andrew C. Green
Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@hermes.dlogics.com
441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!acg
Chicago, IL 60610 FAX: (312) 266-4473
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