April 21, 2003
DOWN HOME:
Car's not cool?Sponge Bob it
___Coach What's-his-name, my Driver's Ed teacher from 30 years back, would've been proud as I drove to the gas station the other evening. I observed every possible traffic regulation the Texas Department of Public Safety could imagine.
___Stayed under the speed limit. Came to a "full and complete stop" at all stop signs. Used my blinker every time I changed lanes. Even kept my hands at the "10" and "2" positions.
___I just didn't want to get pulled over by one of Lewisville's Finest. Would've had some serious 'splainin' to do.
___No, I wasn't transporting anything illegal, unethical or immoral. I was driving Molly's car.
___Molly, our 16-year-old daughter, is the fourth "generation" to drive her car. We bought it used in 1993 or '94. Her mama drove it until the spring of 2000, shortly after her big sister, Lindsay, turned 16 and started driving. Then, when Lindsay got another car a few months ago, Molly sat down and took her turn with the boxy blue sedan.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___As far as we could tell, the first owner drove the car, then new, without adornment. Joanna, Molly and Lindsay's mom, eventually attached a bumper sticker: "Proud Parent of an LHS Farmerette Drill Team Member." Lindsay tore off the old bumper sticker and added a couple of her own--one about the Farmerettes and another that she bought at a Dixie Chicks' concert that said, "Earl's in the trunk."
___Molly removed Lindsay's bumper stickers and began personalizing the inside of the car.
___First, she stuck a pink flamingo on the dash. When she drives by, if you look carefully, you can see the flamingo bobbing up and down.
___Most recently--a couple of days before I went to get gas in her car--she strapped a Sponge Bob Square Pants cover over the driver's seat and a Sponge Bob Square Pants thingy over the steering wheel.
___I'm pretty relaxed about all things dealing with daddydom, but I didn't desire to discuss my driving with a police officer who could look through the window and see me sitting on a Sponge Bob Square Pants seat cover, gripping a Sponge Bob Square Pants steering wheel thingy, bouncing to the music with a pink flamingo.
___I commented to Molly about her decorations. "Practically everybody at school does something to their cars," she explained. "Almost everybody drives beat-up ol' cars, so you've got to do something to make them look cool."
___The kid has a point. Who wants to drive around in a plain sedan--even one destined to be a "classic"--when you can Sponge Bob it?
___I'm glad God blessed me with the privilege of being a dad. Where else but in parenthood can a grownup gain exposure to endless variety, not to mention the opportunity to bob with a pink flamingo?
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