Are Our Cars Reflections of Our Lives?

Today I cleaned my yellow Neon, affectionately known as the Zonker for the 1970s popcorn snack “Screaming Yellow Zonkers,” for my trip to Oregon. I don’t really enjoy this process, but as part of my 2009 effort to be more organized I am including my car. While attempting to get the dog hair from our Rat Terrier Loki off the black carpeting and upholstery I ruminated on the notion that how one keeps one’s car is a reflection of one’s life. If that is the case, mine is a disaster. But as I said, I am trying to mend my ways.

My middle son is a wonderful artist and his car is filled with art supplies and plastic ware left over from lunches. The only time he cleans it is to take his wife and son to the airport and then to pick them up two months later. His car looks exactly like his “art room” which is our little downstairs bedroom. I am trying to limit the contents inside of my car to my CDs. What do you keep in your car?

Today I cleaned the inside of the Zonker. I cleaned the “Pup Kiss,” Loki’s nose prints, off the windows, vacuumed out his dog hair and the crumbs from the grandchildren and wiped down the surfaces with Armor All. Tomorrow will be washing the outside day. I hate doing that, too, but fortunately it has become unecological to wash one’s car in the driveway and I buy carwash tickets from the Gig Harbor High School Debate team. I like supporting students who don’t fall into the jock category since they get largely overlooked during high school (at the reunions it will be these people who will have the better jobs) and am happy to escape getting drenched washing the car myself. Since there’s a 30% chance of rain today—which we need—I will put off the carwash until tomorrow. After ten days at the coast it needs to get the salt washed off!