I come out of hiding to bring some scary news...
Noodle is a licensed driver....
July 2, 2009 will be momentous occasion for her. A major milestone on her journey to adulthood and individual freedom... (queue the patriotic music)
Much like the Founding Fathers 233 years earlier, she placed a signature on a document that declared independence from a benevolent and sometimes evil despot.
That would be me....
I know it's a stretch see it this way, but Noodle is now free to drive my Jeep whenever she needs it for work, school, and other times when I'm three sheets to the wind on the couch and the keys fall out of my pocket.
Even before she became a licensed driver, she had already made the pronouncement that my Jeep would be the vehicle to take her and her friends on a road trip to Toronto or Montreal. (Yes, she really is that nerdy.) She's made numerous claims expressing certain inalienable rights. Of course, Skippy and I had to remind her in whose house she resides and whose vehicles she drives.
Does all this sound familiar? History has a funny way of repeating itself, no?
Well, there will be no wars of Independence in the Spartacus household. No battles over when and where she can drive the Jeep. But like the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent United States Constitution, there will be checks and balances to this freedom. Noodle will be bound to the same contractual obligations Skippy and I do to vehicular ownership:
- You have the right to keep the car filled with fuel.
- You have the right to get the engine oil, transmission fluid changed and the radiator flushed.
- You have the right to rotate the tires with each oil change and fix your own flats using one of those cheap hand-pumped jacks the car manufacturer's give you.
- You have the right to pay for your own tolls and for your own traffic violations.
- You have the right to wash and wax the car. (h/t okjimm)
I'm sure there are many more rights I can come up with, and if you, dear readers, can think of any more, please feel free to share them in comments. So yes, baby, you can drive my car.....
Thank you once again for indulging my infrequent blog posts. I promise not to be such a stranger.
Happy Independence Day everyone.
Congratulations to Noodle...and condolences to you, Spartacus and Mrs. Spartacus.
ReplyDeleteWhen my three daughter's started driving, they had no fear. Once they had those keys in their hands, the world was their oyster and they would travel into the Loop (downtown Chicago) or off to some godforsaken area to go to concerts. My son, on the other hand, just took it in stride. He rarely asks for the keys to the car and has no desire to buy his own (something my girls did within a year of getting their drivers license). Most of his trips involve fast food or the video store to rent a new video game...or to go to his friends houses where they proceed to eat fast food and play video games. I'm not sure if he's this way because he's a nerd or if he's a lot smarter than the girls. While they spent their hard earned cash on gas, car repairs, and speeding tickets, my son banks his money. The kid is 19 years old now and has never had a speeding ticket...I know I should be happy about that but for some reason it makes me wonder what's wrong with that kid.
Don't forget her inalienable right to wash and wax.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad my oldest doesn't have an inclination to drive, for this post frightens me.
ReplyDeleteNunley... your experiences with your daughter are the realization of my fears. But like my post says, she has some inalienable rights when it comes to driving the car. If she is unable to acknowledge and respect those rights, she won't drive our cars. Eventually, of course, she will drive her own vehicle, in which case, she would have no choice but to abide those rights.
ReplyDeleteokjimm... good one. I will add it to the list.
Randal... give it time. Your oldest will eventually long for the freedom of the open road. Her inner Jack Kerouak will emerge. I'm just sayin...
...she placed a signature on a document that declared independence from a benevolent and sometimes evil despot.
ReplyDelete'No transportation without representation!"
Ya got that right, Kvatch. She now has to pay me $5 of her weekly paycheck for gas money. Of course, I won't use it, but she doesn't have to know that I'll be banking it for her.
ReplyDeleteIs your car still in one piece?
ReplyDeleteWant another nightmare? Of course, your kid is probably a much better driver than mine. About two years ago, daughter number two was in a very bad accident (which wasn't her fault, some chick ran through a red light and t-boned her in the intersection) and her car was totaled. She got a rental car from the insurance company until she settled everything with the girl who hit her. Within two days....somebody else hit her and totaled the rental car. That wasn't her fault either, she was sitting at a stop light when it happened.
I swear, she had a target painted on her that month. She swore she was going to give up driving until the curse had worn off. She hasn't had an accident since, though, and thankfully she was never hurt badly.
ME, my car is still in one piece save for the little bugaboos like loose taillight fixtures and door jams. The transmission rattles and it's definitely in sore need of some new shocks and struts.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you though that her being in an accident is one of my recurring nightmares. We drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, which is built on a small truck steel frame. That and the fact that she takes her driving seriously, gives me some comfort. When I hear stories of 18-year old kids killing themselves from driving 120 mph under the influence of alcohol, it scares me to think that she could get caught up in that just for having the misfortune of being in the same place and time as this moron driver.
This incident with the 18-year old moron did actually happen along a beach front road known as Ocean Parkway here on Long Island. It's the only road with access to the town beaches which my daughter frequents with her friends when she's not working.
Thank for the wake up call, ME.
Spartacus... Haven't read you around lately, but nonetheless, "Feliz Año Nuevo!"
ReplyDeleteSo, it's six months later. What's the death toll so far?
ReplyDeleteAnd how was Montreal? Inquiring minds want to know!