Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Invasion of Driver #2

For as long as we’ve been married, my husband and I have driven separate vehicles. When we met we each had our own vehicle, and we kept up that arrangement since then.

In recent years, he drove a car and I’ve driven the typical family mini-van. Despite the stereotype, I’ve always liked our van because it has a lot of features, and I can carry absolutely anything in it.

We recently discovered that we could save a lot of money if we sold the car. I work from home and rarely leave the house during the day, so it didn’t make sense to have a vehicle that just sits all week long. So, we made the decision to get rid of the car and become a one vehicle family.

I was excited! The car payment would go away (making us without a vehicle payment!), and our insurance and license plate fees would go down. My husband would drive the van during the week and, on the rare occasion that I might need it during the day, I could drop him off at work and pick him up at the end of the day. It was settled, and within a couple of weeks the car was gone.

And then I realized what I had done.

The van had mostly been my territory. My hubby drove it on the weekends, but it was usually when the entire family was along for the ride. I had always been the sole owner of the “Driver 1” button in the van, which sets the seats and mirrors as I like them when I get in to drive. Everything was arranged as I liked it in the van, down to the radio station preset buttons and the stuff in the middle console. It was mine.

I didn’t realize the change until the first time I went to drive the van after he had driven it for the whole week. When I first got in, I nearly fell back into the next county. Oops – the seat was at the “Driver 2” setting. Okay, no problem, one button fixes that. I pushed the “Driver 1” button and was back in business.

Then I reached into the little console tray for a Kleenex, and my hand bumped into something solid. I looked down to find a pair of sunglasses…Driver 2’s sunglasses. After moving them, I found more and more stuff, all of which had been moved by Driver 2 from the car. Finally, after unloading half a dozen items, I came to my Kleenexes, now at the bottom of the tray. If this had been a bad sneeze moment, I would have been in trouble.

The radio stations are changed, the umbrella is moved…It’s obvious that although I retain my status as owner of the “Driver 1” button, I’m no longer the real Driver #1.

Today's Brutally Honest Bumper Sticker (BHBS): Honk if you gave up the driver's seat!