Recall Me

The universe keeps letting me know that safety is an illusion, and that nothing is a sure thing. I turn this idea over and over, and wonder what I am meant to learn beyond this cliche.

About a year ago, my husband and I decided that our two vehicles needed replacing. BOTH -- what an expense! At age 37, I still drove the very first car I ever purchased, still played cassette tapes in it and rolled my windows down by hand. My husband still drove the used car he bought when met him, in spite of the ripped up seats, poor mileage, chronic repairs, swaths of missing paint on the hood, lacking safety features. We needed to buy two cars. We gulped. We spent time researching, reading Consumer Reports, making lists and comparisons. Then, we panicked and decided we could only afford one car. We opted to get one brand new, fuel efficient, family-sized SAFE car for me to use with the kids. Eventually we thought we'd scrape together a little more money for a good used vehicle for my husband. Then Cash for Clunkers happened, and we could not deny the clunkiness of his vehicle, or the lure of shaving $10,000 off a hybrid. We took on a car loan and bought our family its second, oh-so-safe Toyota.

Ironic, isn't it, that our carefully planned purchases meant to last us many years both made the news within the first year for their recalls and their terrifying potential dangers.

Oh, how I see metaphors.