I have a 1991 Toyota Corolla and I LOVE my car. I have noticed though that quite a few people do not like my beautiful baby. There is no logical reason for this, so here goes my car discrimination rant....
I know my car does not look like this anymore.
But it sure as heck does not look like this..
And I promise you it doesn't smell like or do this!
For a reason that I cannot even comprehend, people treat my car like it came from car hell itself. People look at the little patch of rust on the side, hear it pick up speed, notice that it was most definitely not built in the 2000's, and what do they do?? They pick up speed and pass my precious Toyota, like they think that their cars are sooo much better since they have a big fat car payment to pay each month.
I once did an experiment to see if it was me or the car. When driving my car at the speed limit people will pass me, if I drove between 5 and 10mph over the speed limit people will STILL speed up and pass my piece of "crap." I then took my dads much nicer Toyota Camry out for the same test. While driving the speed limit people generally passed me but not every car; pretty normal. If I sped nobody passed me. Maybe one or two true speed demons, but not anything like what happens when I am driving my car.
Let me show you that all this passing and discriminating is completely absurd! Ok so I may not have a shiny coat of paint, automatic locks, a panic button, or even automatic windows but, I do have some things that are even better.
For most people they have a handy dandy little box (picture above on the left), I hear that it can unlock your car with one simple little push of a button. I also hear that it can make your car go crazy with loud noises, honking and blinking lights......it's called a panic button. I am so blessed to have a car that does not have such panic attacks. My car is calm and simple with one key that unlocks the doors and the other one that starts the car.
Automatic windows....if I wanted to roll down my driver side window with the system shown on the left I would probably lock and unlock my doors a few times, adjust my mirrors on accident, roll down every other window in the car and than FINALLY find the right button that would roll down my own window. By that time I might be in the ditch somewhere so I would probably not even bother ever rolling down my windows...what a sad day that would be. Thankfully I have one little crank on my door...just one. It rolls down MY window....(big sigh).....so simple and calm. Plus unlike most people I get a workout when rolling down my window! Yah that's what I thought. Be jealous.
My car not only has all the cool gadgets it also has the ability to teach a person responsibility. You see if you leave your keys in your nice fancy car it probably dings at you and won't let you lock the door. Or maybe you never have to bother turning your lights on and off. While this all may seem like a convenience, you're missing out on a lot. I have been stranded for 4 hours with a friend because I conveniently locked my keys in my car. We had a great day and made some awesome memories. I also learned my lesson though and always check for my keys now. Since I grew up with "old" cars, I have learned from a young age to always check to make sure my lights are off, so luckily for me my car's battery has never died.
How many of you have walked out of a store and thought, 'Oh crap, where the heck did I park my car??' Nope I don't know how you feel. Never have I had to wander around a parking lot for hours on end looking into every car window wondering if that is my air freshener hanging off the rearview mirror or not. I don't even have to know what row I am parked in. I step out of the store scan and start walking towards my beautiful car.
Alright and this last point is for all those single people who think that having a newer car is going to capture the attention of those around you. I also did an experiment for this one after a day of getting whistled at, yelled at about how great my crappy car is, and being followed another day. While driving my dad's car on the other hand I got nothing. With the windows down and some music one can get a little tiny bit more attention. This is my theory though, most people notice the "crappy" cars and then you obviously want to know who the redneck is driving it. So they look at the driver and when it is not what they were expecting, but somebody totally unashamedly driving their baby, they notice.
So, for those of you out there driving their car for attention I urge you to DOWN grade. The only exception to this rule is if you are driving a beautiful jeep or a manly pick-up truck. (Yes there are sissy pick-ups, but we won't go into that rant right now.)
The cars that you think are "old" and "crappy" are generally the ones that get and give the most love, have the best gas mileage, last longer, attracts the most attention, yah you get the idea. My car is most likely better than yours. Now that you understand the beauty of "junk" cars, stop discriminating. Stop passing us just, because you think your car should be able to go faster than mine. Stop bullying them by telling them that they are pieces of crap. We understand that you are just jealous and scared of the quality of our cars, but it needs to stop. Every car deserves an equal chance in the car world!
