Coffee Crone: Taming Coffee Blog

July 1 2006

We Need to Win the Lottery

RT is itchin' for a new car. He test drove four cars yesterday, and, naturally, fell in love with the one that would involve a car payment bigger than our monthly mortgage note. We could actually afford a different version of the car he fell for—with a smaller engine and fewer bells and whistles, but apparently that is not something he would consider.

The car manufacturers really have his number. I suspect it is the number of a whole lot of men his age.

When RT was a teenager, the car of his dreams was a real "muscle car." He didn't own one, but one of his friends did. Now, almost 40 years later, they are making cars like that again, but all tricked out with the bells, whistles, and comforts older guys like too. I swear, the salesman said hemi engine, and RT swooned. He said Viper edition (we're talking about a Dodge Charger) and RT was hooked. He said $50,000, and I needed to be scraped off the floor.

I don't get the whole car thing that seems bred in the bone for men like RT. He drives mebbe 100 k a week, unless he has to go into Calgary, and I'd be thinking putt-putt. Instead he's looking at a car that is so big it might not fit into our garage along side of my rapidly ageing, but completely paid for, vehicle.

There is a compromise car amongst the ones we drove yesterday. It's still far too expensive, and more car than we need, but we could swing it. I might never have living room furniture, but that's OK.

RT may be the hardest working man on the planet. I hate knowing that he would get into that compromise car every day thinking that, even at this stage of the game, he couldn't quite swing the car he really loves. I really want him, for the first time in his life, to have the car of his dreams, even if the dream was hatched in the mind of a 16 year old boy from a small town in Saskatchewan, who lusted for a really hot car whilst driving his dad's Buick.

Mebbe we could trade in both of our existing cars, and I could get one of those granny carts for my grocery shopping and some sturdy walking shoes. If the new car still didn't fit in our garage, we could always park it in the living room.