This is not my car. At least, it isn't anymore. But for more than 13 years, this car was one of the very few things in my life that didn't change. It was my car through 5 residences. A great many friends have come & gone since then. So much so that, other than family, only one person who was a close friend when I got it is still someone I talk to regularly, despite us now living in different states.
I was never particularly attached to this car. It was just my car. It was reliable enough that it went over 10 years without a major problem. Even now, its only problems are repairable. But the cost for those repairs had become enough to justify just replacing it instead.
I did hate some things about it. It's got a cup holder in a weird spot that couldn't really even be used for fear of the drink falling out. It's got automatic lights, which means they come on automatically when it gets dark. But I also couldn't shut them off, which meant blinding the gate guards any time I went on base after dark.
I should be happy that I've now got a brand new car sitting in my garage. And I am. Yet, my brain isn't viewing it that way. For some reason, I find myself not feeling like I've gained a new car but that I've lost my car.
I'm well aware that attachment to inanimate objects is typically limited to children[1] with various exceptions for adults. I don't think any of those things apply, as I never considered the car something I was attached to. I never treated it any differently than the average person treats their car.
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. It's just a weird thing to find myself having been attached to an inanimate object in such a way. Especially for someone like me, one of the most non-emotional, non-sentimental people you could ever meet.
If you actually read this, thanks for indulging my rantiness. Sometimes it just helps to get thoughts out, even if they don't make sense to anyone else.
I want promise the next post will make more sense, but it's on morality and addressing a Christian's questions, so...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------I was never particularly attached to this car. It was just my car. It was reliable enough that it went over 10 years without a major problem. Even now, its only problems are repairable. But the cost for those repairs had become enough to justify just replacing it instead.
I should be happy that I've now got a brand new car sitting in my garage. And I am. Yet, my brain isn't viewing it that way. For some reason, I find myself not feeling like I've gained a new car but that I've lost my car.
I'm well aware that attachment to inanimate objects is typically limited to children[1] with various exceptions for adults. I don't think any of those things apply, as I never considered the car something I was attached to. I never treated it any differently than the average person treats their car.
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. It's just a weird thing to find myself having been attached to an inanimate object in such a way. Especially for someone like me, one of the most non-emotional, non-sentimental people you could ever meet.
If you actually read this, thanks for indulging my rantiness. Sometimes it just helps to get thoughts out, even if they don't make sense to anyone else.
I want promise the next post will make more sense, but it's on morality and addressing a Christian's questions, so...
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/mar/09/psychology.uknews
We recently got a new car as well, and felt very similar. Both of our cars were over 10 years old and predated our marriage. We had to decide which old car to get rid of and it was a bit of a battle. Even though whoever's old car went essentially became the primary driver of the new car neither of us wanted to do it.
ReplyDeleteOur brains are funny.