Ah! Mr. Murray with the old Ford. We used to hang off his back bumper and
slide in the snow behind him. We could catch up to him if we ran. He had a
reputation of being a miser.
I don't think that you'll ever be 'the old man down the street with the old
car' if you talk to people and they get to know you.
Robert D.
-----Original Message-----
From James Algar <algar at smartlink.net>
To: spridgets@autox.team.net <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Date: February 26, 2000 3:43 PM
Subject: Feeling old?
>I just have to share this with the list...but be warned; for those of us
>in a certain demographic, this will be hard to take.
>
>With my wife's car in the shop, she's been driving mine, so my '69
>Sprite has once again become my daily driver, after a looong time hidden
>in the garage (so it's not exactly been a common sight on the streets of
>my neighborhood.)
>
>(A little background here: I bought the car brand-new in 1969. The car
>was new, I was young - 22 years old - and the world was at my feet, with
>all things possible. Enter the millennium, so doing the math will tell
>you that I'm now a 53-year-old driving a 31-year-old car.)
>
>Back to my story. As I was pulling out of my cul-de-sac, I noticed a
>group of the neighbors from the next block over gathered across the
>street..you know, just hanging out. They were all ages; kids, teens, and
>a couple of suburban moms in their thirties. Suddenly, a strange thing
>happens: they're smiling, and pointing at me, and nodding their heads
>with big grins and...waving? Yes, waving! I wave back without thinking
>and continue on down the street with all the speed that 1275cc can
>muster.
>
>And then it hits me...light a bolt of lightning...like a ton of
>bricks...like a knot of ice in my stomach. It's happened: I've
>become...I've become...(I can't say this)...THE OLD GUY DOWN THE STREET
>WITH THE FUNNY OLD CAR!
>
>Remember? Sure you do; we all had one living somewhere near us when we
>were growing up. For my generation, it was some nice old harmless guy
>who'd kept that old Model T or Model A, and could be seen in his
>driveway every once in a while washing it, or even more rarely might be
>spotted *driving* it!
>
>But now...AAAAAAARRGGGHHHH...I'm HIM!
>
>I gotta go now...I need a stiff drink. And none of your frou-frou yuppie
>drinks, bartender; just make it a gin and tonic. In fact...make it a
>double.
>
>Jim Algar (born 1947)
>'69 Sprite Mk.IV (built 12-68)
>Tempus fugit
>
>
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