Men and Their Cars Part II

This is a follow up to my previous post Men and Their Cars. If you haven't already, you might want to read it before continuing. Beware as this may be the first rant in my blog and it may not be good.

The other night I got to meet my husband's new (which is not by any means new!) purchase that day: a really old beat up Geo Prizm. Because our condo allows us just one assigned parking in the garage, which obviously belongs to his baby, the Land Cruiser, the Camry and this poor looking fellow will always be found parked on North Avenue (as seen on photo).

This purchase, just like the Land Cruiser, was not approved by me. Actually I did semi-approve of the Land Cruiser in the condition that I will never ever hear him complain about bills. Before we bought it we had a Toyota Sienna in excellent condition that was, just like the Camry, paid for. Did I hear complaints? Of course I did. A lot actually.

(Just a side note: Notice what big Toyota fans we are? 4Runner, Camry, Land Cruiser, Sienna, Geo Prizm (rebadged version of the Toyota Sprinter), and an MR2 that we donated about 2 years ago. They're the most reliable cars out there!)

So why did he insist on getting this old car? Because of his new big boy job, remember? In fairness, this little one is a real gas-saver. He filled it up at less than $50 two days ago and as of last night it's run 290 miles and the empty light still hasn't turned on. I just feel that it's too soon to be making this decision considering that he hasn't even been doing this for over a month. But does my opinion count? Last time I checked it doesn't.

Anyway, after meeting the car the other night I got to ride it yesterday. I took advantage of my day off to see a Filipino movie, which is a rare phenomenon here in Chicago. Kai and I had gone to Macy's to get a present for Megan's 2nd birthday and my husband and I agreed that we will leave for the movie (that starts at 1:30pm) as soon as I was done shopping. All he had to do was get out and we'd be waiting outside, with the kid already strapped on his car seat, the engine running, and myself waiting on the passenger's seat so he could drive.

I don't exactly know what happened between the time I had left the mall and arriving home but he wants me to get out of the car because we're using the other car. I insisted we use the Camry since we're all set and ready to go but all I heard was him yelling, "Park your car!" So I move the car, move the baby and move the shopping bags just so he could give me a peek of his ugly car with exposed insulation on the entire ceiling. To make matters worse when we get to the movie theater I asked him to pop the trunk open so I could stow my bags away and he hands me the key. Oh. I have to manually do it. And as I walked away from the car he again yells at me, "Lock your door!" Oh, no power locks either.

And just when you think the day could not get any more horrifying, he points at the ticket booth and commands me to pay for our tickets-- a ripoff at $15 each. If you've been to the Pickwick Theater at Park Ridge you'll know what I'm talking about. The seats do not have cupholders and the upholstery is so worn they might as well strip it entirely. The floors are sticky and the unkept heavy Victorian interior adds to its misery. At this point it was hard to decide which was more saddening-- being in this depressing theater or being on a date with The Grouch. Wait, did I just say it was hard? I'd pick the theater any given day!

So if your boyfriend tries to impress you with his car, enjoy the days because as soon as you say I do nothing's too ugly for you. You think men are jerks? Try husbands!