Cars In The A To Z Challenge

Day three of the A to Z Challenge and we delve deeper in to Adulthood.  This time it's cars.  I had a car before I had my license but the funny thing is how cars and their requirements change as you head further into Adulthood.  It's like the whole age plateaus, you have birth, then your 6th birthday (real friends party), then 10 (double digits), 13 (you're a teen), 16 (license), 18 (adult), 20 (no longer a teen), 21 (drinking age) and so on.

When I had the chance to purchase my first car the only consideration I had was how cool was it going to be?  I choose a 1978 Ford F-250 that was lifted with 35" mud tires, a 460 engine and Flowmaster exhaust, it was white with a custom hood scoop.  There was only one problem, my parents didn't choose a 1978 Ford F-250 that was lifted with 35" mud tires, a 460 engine and Flowmaster exhaust, it was white with a custom hood scoop so I settled for a 1984 Chevy Cavalier complete with an AM radio, so the whole cool factor flew out the window.

Anyway, that's not the reason for this blog post, the point of this is simple.  When you get your first car it's not what you choose, it's a convenience factor or whatever is in your $800 price range.  Then you get further along and around 18 years old you might have a job so now you can be a little pickier with your car.  I was able to upgrade to a 1990 Dodge Daytona, which is a vehicle that I wanted.  I turned 21 and I wanted my pick up truck so a 1991 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat was on the menu.  See a trend here?  Being young and single you had choices.

Then I got married to the Trophy, which of course is the best thing that ever happened to me.  We were both young so we were able to choose, complete with the cool factor.  The Trophy sported a 1997 Saturn SC1 tricked out with custom 17" wheels, sweet sound system and she was styling...and so was the car.  I had a 1996 Ford Bronco with custom wheels, 302 engine, custom exhaust, and sound system.  Awesome.  We were both still young at the ages 22-23.  Then it happened.....REAL Adulthood.

Full time jobs, no more college and the task of commuting hit us, so the gas guzzler went away and the four cylinder Ford Escort wagon came into play.  I had to consider gas mileage now.  That sucked.  The good news was the Trophy still had her sweet Saturn...until...Minion #1 was conceived.  He went and fucked everything up even before barreling down the sperm slide.

We now needed a four door car with a spacious trunk.  The requirements for a car changed, we needed a car with comfort not sport, space not power.  Then we moved and conceived Minion #2.  Two kids?  Holy hell, we need a bigger vehicle, two kids can't fit in a small car.  We're a growing family, we need an SUV.  Enter the 2006 Chevy Trailblazer.  It had plenty of trunk space for the strollers, more room for both car seats and we were able to hook up a DVD player.  Yup, when you have kids a DVD player in a vehicle is a necessity.  At first we were all "we're better parents, kids don't need a screen in the car" and then we took a road trip to New York and said fuck it, we need out sanity.

We were content with the Trailblazer, it was a great vehicle, decent gas mileage and a comfortable ride.  Then #3 arrived and suddenly the Trailblazer wasn't going to work out with three car seats and the constant bickering of the Minions.  So we went car shopping once again.  Again the requirements changed, a third row was mandatory, all wheel drive for safety and a roof rack to put more crap on top when we went away.  The good news is, we still have that vehicle and we are not planning on getting a new one for a long, long time...why?  Because we have three kids and we don't want four.