With the ever increasing rise in car insurance I have started contemplating whether to give up my reliable motor in favour for public transport. Despite being 31 years old, I only passed my test in my 20’s because I have never had that desire to own my own set of wheels, and although a car brings a lot of independence, it also brings a lot of hassle.
My first was a Blue Vauxhall Nova called George. He was a cheeky chappy and I have some fond memories of us driving around town with the windows down singing at the top of my voice to the songs on the radio. Every now and then, I would introduce him to one of my many classic tape cassettes, as being an older model he wasn’t up to date with the modern technology of other cars. That didn’t faze me though because who needs central locking, an iPod docking station and air con? As long as I used my steering lock every day, I felt happy knowing he was safe. It was a sad day when I got a knock on the door one Saturday night from the police to inform me George had been stolen and was found burnt out two streets away from my house.
It took me a long time to get over that.
Despite my mourning, I knew I had to move on. Relying on public transport was draining me of all hope that not having a car wasn’t a bad thing. I was already friends with Clarissa because she was my sister’s car and when she had the opportunity to go to South Africa
My relationship with Clarissa blossomed over discussions about Westlife and Take That. She used to love it when I played “Flying without wings” really loud, but for some reason, always made me change it to something more upbeat and “cool” whenever we stopped at traffic lights. To this day, I still don’t know why she did that.
My heart was broken yet again when I awoke to find someone had broken in and tried to rob her of the steering wheel. She must have put up quite a fight because the person responsible gave up and just left her sitting there with broken pieces of plastic all over the drivers mat and wires hanging from her once perfect frame. According to the police, it’s a frequent crime with Corsa’s. Infact I remember the same thing happened to a guy I was seeing around about the same time…but I won’t go into that.
I have been with my current car for 5 years now. We’ve had our ups and downs like most relationships, but touch wood nothing bad has happened to him except for a broken heater, dodgy lock and only one speaker working. Perhaps it’s the reliability of the Ford KA that does it. Maybe the youths of the day don’t see them to be anything more than throwing crisps over or stealing hub caps from. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve laughed, cried and sang songs…I’ve even treated him to a car wash or two. The only downside to Ury is his annoying ability to break things. There seems to be a constant need to change light bulbs and windscreen wiper blades, not to mention the amount of money I have spent buying mirror adhesive pads.
As George and Clarissa are now relishing their new life in car heaven, and with my insurance renewal fast approaching, I find myself back at my initial thought of whether to end my loyal relationship with Ury and start using the bus, but in retrospect, I don’t think I could do it. Despite the money draining vehicle he is, I have to remind myself getting the bus will mean having to travel with the public, and you haven’t seen the types of people who ride our busses. Just thinking about it makes me shudder. I do love Ury, and we have many adventures together, so why give that up to stand out in the cold waiting for a bus, which lets face it, will probably never turn up anyway?
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