Doug's+Page

I Believe in a Good Car

I definitely remember my first car: a 1998 Mercury Mystique that I got my sophomore year of high school. That car was absolutely a chick car. The car had a small body the size of a dill pickle and the color was purple with two black doors on the passenger side. Janet was her name it made me mad at times when the window motors decided not to work on the days that it was hot. My A/C didn’t work so when I would turn the A/C on you could feel the heat rushing to be released from the car vents. So now I’m trapped in a hot sweaty little car where my knees touch the steering wheel. The only things working in the car were the radio and heat; it worked as if it were in a new car. People would look at me all weird when my favorite song would come on and I’m in the car jamming. I know people would laugh and think to themselves look at his car, well your right but people do not understand what a good car is. I never looked at my car from the outside I always looked at my car from the inside, the radio that displayed quality sound, and the way my engine ran, and the relationship I built with it. It may not have been new or pretty from the outside, but to me it was a good.

My senior year of high school I received an early graduation gift, a 2000 Dodge Durango. On the first day I drove it I noticed it would not be the same, because one the engine is a lot bigger than the Mercury Mystique and the Durango has a lot more room. They both were good cars, I just felt the Durango was a better suit for me because I’m tall and I felt that the car met my needs. When driving I seem to still be thinking of the Mercury because the relationship I built with it.

I have definitely helped a lot of people understand the meaning of good car. Just having knowledge of some of the cars because my father is a car tech gives me pros and cons on some cars. Cars are like people—if you don’t treat it right it wont treat you right. So you could always tell by someone’s car what type of person he or she may be. If the car is not in good condition outside but inside its fabulous then that person is respectful and knows how to relate to their car, it like a friend who may not be attractive but is a good person. For someone who may have a nice car but the inside is not as clean or good looking as the not so good looking car then that’s a problem. I see this car as a person who may be beautiful on the inside but have the worst personality ever. I believe to change people perspectives of judging people, some of us decide to judge people off the basis of their looks, but deep down if we got to know some of the people inside we would notice that they are similar to these good cars. That’s where the world would become a better place and people would appreciate their cars much better as their friendships. Because friends can be replaced easily in today’s society.

Douglas Rippy II is a junior at the University of Colorado at Boulder, studying History and Ethnic studies. From Columbus,Oh currently a member of the CU Football team. I chose this picture at the top because if I was not fortunate for a car this would be my way of transportation.