Car Trouble
Lemme tell y’all something. If I had a dollar for every time I have had my car break down, I would be driving a really nice car. Once again last week my car decided not to start. Car trouble is exhausting. In my car’s defense, I have put a lot of miles on her. She has been a reliable car for the most part. I love her. I will pay to fix her. Mostly because I can’t afford a new car right now.
I thought it might be fun to go a little more in depth about my car trouble, I’d like to bring up car trouble from the past.
When I first got my license I didn’t actually have a car, but my dad is a used car hoarder, so I always had something to drive.
When my sister got a new car, I got her hand me down 1991 Ford Escort. A hatchback. I liked that car. It was little, and fast for a 4 cylinder. Marena had been down many roads in that little car, and it wasn’t in pristine condition to begin with.
The first time I ever got pulled over I was doing 77 in a 55 (the speedometer was broken) luckily, I only got a seatbelt ticket.
As time went by one night (the only time I lied to my parents about my whereabouts) my friend wrecked my car into another friends car. The bumper was almost completely off. I figured I could duct tape it up and Mom and Dad would be none the wiser. Well, they caught on. So my friend and her mom were going to pay to get the bumper fixed. A few weeks later I was going to get gas so that I could I drive to Skiatook to get it fixed. I was stopped behind a car on Main street and BAM!!! I get rear ended by a kid I went to school with. Things were not looking good for the Escort. Things were looking really really not good.
So the escort was crushed.
Next I got my Mom’s old Tempo. It was a whitish blue color, my best friend and I decided it was “water tower blue”. This car didn’t have a radio because I had to take out the fuse. So I had a discman attached to the dash by velcro, and hooked into the tape player. It also didn’t have an air conditioner, and the engine constantly ran hot. Toward the end of my senior year I was putting transmission fluid in it every day. Sometimes twice a day. Once my muffler fell off at the donut shop. Lincoln picked it up for me. Once, my friend Ty was making a comment about it, and he gave it a light tap with his boot. The whole side literally caved in. Once my friend Luke tried to walk up the hood or something and he shattered the windshield. One snowy day I had to make the 15 mile trek to school and I spun out on the highway, and slid into a ditch. I let my friends write on the ceiling with chalk. Before I left for college, my dad was kind enough to get me another car. I will always have fond memories of the Tempo. RIP Pimpo Tempo.
Next I had a Pontiac Grand Am. I also loved that car. It was fully loaded. I felt I deserved it. I don’t have many specific memories of this car, except that some dumb ass mechanic put the wrong coolant in it, and the day I moved out of Stillwater my engine exploded. About….3 miles from my parents’ house. Damn the luck! My poor dad spent a lot of time and money trying to get that thing running again. He finally did it. My mom still drives that car today. Side note: Don’t ever do business with Pemberton in Ponca City. They are not nice people.
Finally, after relying on the kindness of strangers, my sister, Krystal, and Brittani for 6 months I decided it was time to get a car. Tallgrass in Pawhuska had one that would suit my needs, and my budget. She was a 2003, bright red, Oldsmobile Alero. Though she wasn’t my dream car, I settled. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. Betty Sue and I have had some good times. We’ve been many places, and seen many things. I’m not giving up on her yet.
I have a dream that one day, my unborn daughter will get her license. She will ask me to buy her car. I will say no way Jose! I will hand her the key to Betty Sue, and I will watch her ride off into the sunset to go ramp 9th street hill with her rowdy friends.
Bird's Words 