old car/new car, slow down/go far
I got a new car recently!
It's a 2005 Ford Focus wagon and what a blast it's been to drive around in. The engine is a bit loud and shaky (we know what needs to be fixed), and it's a very bare bones car, but it's perfect for me. It feels like my car!
For some context, my partner and I have only had one car for about 2 years now. I had to leave my hand-me-down car behind with my mom when we moved cross-county, and it was hard for me. Not only was that my first car, that was the car I grew up in. It's a 2008 Kia Rio and while it had its issues, it was a very good starter car for me. Very bare bones. Manual locks and windows, no cruise control, basic radio setup (which I later upgraded). That was all I needed.
Now I have this car that carries the essence of my old car, and I bought this one myself! The first time we took it for a drive, I got very emotional. I was reunited with a piece of me that I didn't even know what was missing: A dinky-ass car with the bare minimum.
One of my favorite (and simultaneously my least favorite) aspects of this car right now is the radio system setup. It's a cheap aftermarket touch-screen with no CD player. It has an aux input, but I've given up Spotify and my iPod classic recently died, so what the heck do I do for music?
I gotta lug around the Walkman, an aux cable, and a small collection of CDs. And it's actually been doing me some good. I remember a time before I had Spotify or even an MP3 player. Of course I could find music on Youtube, but my main source for music was whatever CDs we had lying around. I listened to those CDs over and over again and had no problem with it, so why wouldn't I be able to do that now? I'm starting to feel like my iPod dying was a blessing in disguise.
Now I wrote all of this to say that I love Old Things. I love certain... limitations. I love using things that people have deemed "obsolete" even though they work perfectly fine. I think it's okay to reject the constant upgrades and fancy new technology sometimes. I love my CD's and tapes because as I continue using them, I form a bond with them. I love them because they don't bombard me with ads and payment plans. I love my old dinky-ass car because it still deserves to be loved in all its loud, shaky glory! And it's not going to attempt to invade my sense of privacy!!!
If it ain't broke...don't fix it! And if it is broke...fix that shit and keep it truckin'!
Thanks for reading,
Ginger <3