So I wanted to tell you all a funny story about driving from college, but I realized it is a really short story and that you have all probably gotten used to a fantastically large amount of content on a daily basis here at Help! I’m Post-Grad. So, I thought that a small post would be disappointing, so instead, here’s a post about cars.
I’ll start with my driving story.
Driving doesn’t really scare me. In fact, being on an airplane scares me much more. Or, at least the potentially crashing part of being on an airplane. People tell me all the time “Deidree, you know more people die in car accidents every day than people die on an airplane in a month.” Yes, yes, I know, this is the equivalent of being more scared of elevators than stairs, but airplane scare me. I usually retort with “Fear is irrational, okay?” I am a little scarred of driving because I once was in an accident where someone over turned. I was driving in the center lane and someone made a right turn, but they over turned and came into my lane instead of the right lane. So when people merge, it sort of scares me. Not when I merge, but you can’t really account for other people, you know?
Anyway, every time I used to visit Evan, he would take over the driving because men drive and women sit in the passenger seat, apparently. Anyway, we usually ended up on one of the major thoroughfares to get to his house. At our alma mater, most of the Greek houses are situated just a street or two down from this street, although a couple of them are right at the street. One of these houses is Theta Xi.
The gentlemen of Theta Xi have a reputation on our campus for being extreme sports guys. The type of guys that will go biking, rock climbing, and white water rafting all in one day, before they go skiing in their cargo shorts. I’m only saying this because it’s April and you could do all of those things in one day, I mean, as long as you were extreme.
The other fraternities started making an “x” out of their arms and shouting “EXTREEEEEMMMMEEE!” every time they saw a Theta Xi to make fun of their cargo short wearing extreme sports and totally un-fratty attitude. (Although the Theta Xis eventually picked it up themselves, so they’ll x and shout before coming on to the field for frat football. I don’t know if this makes it more or less funny to the other fraternities.)
And so, consequently, Evan did this every time we passed their house, while driving.
“EXTRRREEEMMMEEEE!!”
“Evan! We’re rounding a corner!”
Evan put his right arm in front of me as we made it around the corner safely. “Teach you to be afraid of airplanes, right?”
And this happened every time we drove by their house. Though, eventually, I started retorting back either “Fear is irrational” or “So, how many people died in car accidents today?” It happened so much so, that when I ride by it in the passenger seat, even now, I get a little concerned for my life if someone doesn’t put their arm in front of me after shouting “extreme”. (And yes, even when they don’t shout “extreme”, I wonder why they didn’t and I hope they would have.)
Now for my other thought about cars. Do you ever think of a car as a person? Like every time you see a certain make or model, you automatically think of some person in particular and wonder how they’re doing?
It happens to me most often now when I see an Xterra. Xterras are everywhere. And every time I see one, I start to think about Shawn.
The same stands whenever I see a frat Jeep. I laugh and think about Evan. Actually, I think about the incident I mentioned above most of the time too.
And I will always see a green Honda civic and think of Keith. Keith doesn’t even own that car anymore, and I totally know that, but that’s always what I picture him driving.
Does anyone else do this or am I just weird?
Help! I'm Post-Grad... 