Image is everything. Left foot reverse?

In the late 90's my youngest son was the starting QB for the local High School football team. He was very concerned about his "image" as a freshman in High School. He envied the "richer" kids and the possesions their parents owned. He was handsome, physically fit, and excelled in academics. He wore nice clothes (of course provided by me) and no hand me downs from older brother. Image and status in life was everything for him at that time.

On one evening after football practice, my wife was at the high school to pick up said son and discovered that the 1988 Monte Carlo she drove would not shift into reverse.

A few big linemen pushed her out of her parking space and she then returned home with our son.
He was devastated. Some Senior year team mates had to push a freshman's mother's car out of the parking space. Oh, the shame and humiliation.We owned a vehicle that had no reverse!

In order to teach my youngest son the true values in life, I kept that vehicle until he graduated from high school. All drivers in my family were taught to always park with the ability to pull forward or to park on a "hill" so the driver's door could be opened, the left foot stuck out to push "reverse".

My older son drove that vehicle for years and had no problem with no reverse. Well, there was one time he had to park in a place that had a no "left foot reverse" at a prom.

Youngest son is now a graduate from Purdue University ,25 years old and out in the world on his own. Image is still everything to him so I guess my lesson was to no avail.

When I was in high school in the mid 80's, I drove a 1977 Ford Supercab Pick up with a blue cab and green bed. Was happy to have it and wasn't to concerned about image. Of course I was going to school in Bulltt County, so it did make a lot of difference LOL.

[QUOTE=Tyme2fish;338977]In the late 90's my youngest son was the starting QB for the local High School football team. He was very concerned about his "image" as a freshman in High School. He envied the "richer" kids and the possesions their parents owned. He was handsome, physically fit, and excelled in academics. He wore nice clothes (of course provided by me) and no hand me downs from older brother. Image and status in life was everything for him at that time.

On one evening after football practice, my wife was at the high school to pick up said son and discovered that the 1988 Monte Carlo she drove would not shift into reverse.

A few big linemen pushed her out of her parking space and she then returned home with our son.
He was devastated. Some Senior year team mates had to push a freshman's mother's car out of the parking space. Oh, the shame and humiliation.We owned a vehicle that had no reverse!

In order to teach my youngest son the true values in life, I kept that vehicle until he graduated from high school. All drivers in my family were taught to always park with the ability to pull forward or to park on a "hill" so the driver's door could be opened, the left foot stuck out to push "reverse".

My older son drove that vehicle for years and had no problem with no reverse. Well, there was one time he had to park in a place that had a no "left foot reverse" at a prom.

Youngest son is now a graduate from Purdue University ,25 years old and out in the world on his own. Image is still everything to him so I guess my lesson was to no avail.[/QUOTE]

No Sir he is still to young...things will change once he feels the real pinch of economics at work! He might be 40years old but you know one day he will understand.

Yep, the day will hit him square in the face and realize that his image don't mean squat........He's just young right now.....

I had an old Dotson 210 that had no defrost. My dad bought me a squeegee that worked just fine. Everything on that car broke except the motor and transmission. The seat rusted out , the emergency brake had to be bolted back down, no air or heat but it would not quit running.

The car ran like a top for 140,000 miles. I was finally able to get another car and my dad gave the Dotson to a family friend who was in a rough spot. He had the car for another 72,000 miles with no other major problems. The car was originally white and turned the color of nice brown rust.

All my friends made fun of me for that car and we still laugh about it today.

But car taught me a lot about life. It took several years to learn what it was all about.

My dad was always wrong. He did not know what he was talking about. But between the time I turned 25-30 years he gained a ton of knowledge. It was amazing how smart he had become the older I have gotten.

We have a great relationship today. Looking back I would not have traded that old car for a new Ferrari. Ryan

Ryan,
My car was a old Toyota Celica (72?) that was S-L-O-W and noisy but I bought it at age 17 and sold it at age 30 or so. My Dad helped me fix that thing for years...awww that brings back some memories for sure. hadg

You could not beat those old foreign cars. You could drive to Texas and back on $5.00 worth of gas.

[QUOTE=zx150;339060]You could not beat those old foreign cars. You could drive to Texas and back on $5.00 worth of gas.[/QUOTE]

That is because gas was 33 cents.

[QUOTE=roadrunner;339199]That is because gas was 33 cents.[/QUOTE]

HAHA close but not that cheap!