Goodbye, Lime Green
I had no idea that my sense of self had been so wrapped up in the color of my car.
We bought a Toyota Prius last Friday and we HAD to turn in the Beetle to do it. Of course, I could have chosen to keep the Beetle, but it had been a lemon since we bought it. I’ve talked about the problems with the Beetle many times, but I summed it up perfectly here: Y2K Bug.
Thing is, the dealership paid us twice in trade-in for the Beetle than I think I could have gotten from a human being. Considering that the Check Engine light and the Airbag light were on (and have been since I bought the thing) AND the windshield was cracked AND I had over 94,000 miles on it, I can’t believe how much we got for the Beetle. I would worry that we got ripped off on the price, but according to the forums, we got an amazing price on the Prius. Since our lending was through our credit union and we got an amazing interest rate, we won all around.
Why am I grieving?
All weekend, I saw the lime green things that I have collected over the last eight years and realized that I had bonded with the color of the car far more than I ever realized.
I am not my car. I am not my job. I am not my clothing.
How many times do I have to learn this lesson?
The Beetle was a piece of junk, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. It was an abusive relationship from the beginning and I don’t know how much money I spent trying to fix all of its problems. But, damn… I loved that car.
I’ve decided that I have to get rid of the lime green in my life. That’s kind of a difficult decision since I have integrated it into EVERYTHING in my life, including the design for this weblog.
If I’m not my car, maybe I’m my iPod.
I think I’ll be a red girl now…
Update: As All About George says: This is a red alert!
Does that make this post yr. red alert? :-)
Comment by George — 5/31/2007 @ 9:19 am
Waitasecond … what color’s the Prius?
Comment by George — 5/31/2007 @ 9:20 am
Technically, the Prius is Mike’s car and it’s black. My car is Mike’s old Golf GTI, which is also black. You can see the back half of it in the last photo. It has almost 90,000 miles on it. Do you think I ought to have it painted glitter red?
Comment by Laura Moncur — 5/31/2007 @ 9:24 am
I’ve been thinking about how fluid it is to be a living being. How everyday I just reappear with all the consequences of a past person’s choices. I think that’s why people identify with objects and places and opinions etc… we’re trying to hold ourselves in place a little.
Comment by B. — 6/1/2007 @ 11:48 am