I Got These Old Walkin' Blues...
Sometimes, one is called upon to give up some of their comforts for the sake of another. This is common when one is in a relationship. You give some and the other one gives some and both of you are happy. It's called compromise and I happen to be a fan of it.
However, there are some times when I wish I could draw the line. Call it quits. Throw in the towel and say, "well, if you're going to be impossible to deal with, I'm just not going to deal with you!" And to then walk away without so much as a sideway glance. I don't often feel this frustrated with a relationship, but when I do, I really, really do.
Take this afternoon, for example. I don't ask for much from my car other than for it to transport me hither and thither. And sometimes, on days when the temperature is in the ninties, I ask that it provide me with an area of cool respite for the interim of a trip. In the past, my car was more than happy to indulge me with a little bit more than usual. We dubbed the indulgance "the air conditioner" and called it even when I'd give my car an extra-early oil change. But recently, things started turning sour.
My car, in its oddly passive-aggressive way, is asking me to break up with it. You know how it goes. Someone wants to break up with you but doesn't want to be the one held accountable for that kind of decision so they make you do it. They'll start with the small things first, waiting for the fifth time you call them to return your phone call. Then they'll move onto bigger things like showing you up on a date and calling later that night to apologize for something that came up so suddenly they couldn't even call you until three hours later. Then they might move onto even bigger things like making you keep the heater on in the heat of the summer. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The point I'm trying to make is that they'll basically abuse you until you're forced to break up with them. And my car, I fear, is falling into this pattern.
My car developed an allergy to the air conditioner recently. I turn the air on and my car tries to outdo it by heating the engine. I happen to find driving with the windows down a pleasure in the summer, so I've been good about giving my car its space and letting it get away with its newly discovered dislike for the air conditioner. But when I'm sitting in traffic, my open windows do nothing but allow 90-something degree air to mix and mingle with me. And 90-something degrees of humidity mixed with intense sunrays isn't pleasant. Even then, however, I'm okay with having my windows open. Because I love my car, and that's what you do for love.
What I'm not okay with is sitting in traffic with my windows open to 90-something degree air and having the heater on full blast at the same time. You see, my car's newest trick--my car's second degree try at getting me to break up with it--is that it tries overheating regardless of whether I have the air conditioner on or not. And when a car tries overheating, you have to put the heater on to draw the heat away from the engine. Which is why I am slowly, but no-doubt, getting upset with my car.
It even drove me to the point of sacrilege. I tremble as I type this, but I have no choice as to relay it lest you not really understand why I feel so abused by my car. With the sun beating down on me through the open window and my flip-flop clad foot developing a blistering burn from the heater that was blowing on it at full blast, I had no choice but to remove my lucky Allman Brothers tee-shirt (I was wearing another shirt underneath because my lucky one's sleeves are too short) from my very own back and wrap it around my boiling hot right foot. That's right, I wasn't just giving up some of my comforts for another...I was giving up my lucky tee to assuage my foot's pain in the name of my car's silly antics.
I have to state that as much as I love my car (and I do, I really do), I can only give 60% to this relationship if it will too or I will feel that I am being taken advantage of. So let this serve as a warning, my car--shape up or I will have to move on without you. It might be a slow moving on because I'll be on foot, but I will be without you.
However, there are some times when I wish I could draw the line. Call it quits. Throw in the towel and say, "well, if you're going to be impossible to deal with, I'm just not going to deal with you!" And to then walk away without so much as a sideway glance. I don't often feel this frustrated with a relationship, but when I do, I really, really do.
Take this afternoon, for example. I don't ask for much from my car other than for it to transport me hither and thither. And sometimes, on days when the temperature is in the ninties, I ask that it provide me with an area of cool respite for the interim of a trip. In the past, my car was more than happy to indulge me with a little bit more than usual. We dubbed the indulgance "the air conditioner" and called it even when I'd give my car an extra-early oil change. But recently, things started turning sour.
My car, in its oddly passive-aggressive way, is asking me to break up with it. You know how it goes. Someone wants to break up with you but doesn't want to be the one held accountable for that kind of decision so they make you do it. They'll start with the small things first, waiting for the fifth time you call them to return your phone call. Then they'll move onto bigger things like showing you up on a date and calling later that night to apologize for something that came up so suddenly they couldn't even call you until three hours later. Then they might move onto even bigger things like making you keep the heater on in the heat of the summer. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The point I'm trying to make is that they'll basically abuse you until you're forced to break up with them. And my car, I fear, is falling into this pattern.
My car developed an allergy to the air conditioner recently. I turn the air on and my car tries to outdo it by heating the engine. I happen to find driving with the windows down a pleasure in the summer, so I've been good about giving my car its space and letting it get away with its newly discovered dislike for the air conditioner. But when I'm sitting in traffic, my open windows do nothing but allow 90-something degree air to mix and mingle with me. And 90-something degrees of humidity mixed with intense sunrays isn't pleasant. Even then, however, I'm okay with having my windows open. Because I love my car, and that's what you do for love.
What I'm not okay with is sitting in traffic with my windows open to 90-something degree air and having the heater on full blast at the same time. You see, my car's newest trick--my car's second degree try at getting me to break up with it--is that it tries overheating regardless of whether I have the air conditioner on or not. And when a car tries overheating, you have to put the heater on to draw the heat away from the engine. Which is why I am slowly, but no-doubt, getting upset with my car.
It even drove me to the point of sacrilege. I tremble as I type this, but I have no choice as to relay it lest you not really understand why I feel so abused by my car. With the sun beating down on me through the open window and my flip-flop clad foot developing a blistering burn from the heater that was blowing on it at full blast, I had no choice but to remove my lucky Allman Brothers tee-shirt (I was wearing another shirt underneath because my lucky one's sleeves are too short) from my very own back and wrap it around my boiling hot right foot. That's right, I wasn't just giving up some of my comforts for another...I was giving up my lucky tee to assuage my foot's pain in the name of my car's silly antics.
I have to state that as much as I love my car (and I do, I really do), I can only give 60% to this relationship if it will too or I will feel that I am being taken advantage of. So let this serve as a warning, my car--shape up or I will have to move on without you. It might be a slow moving on because I'll be on foot, but I will be without you.
posted by BrownsvilleGirl at 9:52 PM
