A Car Named Toby

For many students, the thought of having a car, especially in high school, helped tremendously toward feeling that teenage independence. Well, when I was in HS, the thought of having a car wasn't even on my radar. Fortunately for me, my parents were generous with the use of their cars. I remember on one occasion asking my father for the car, and he handed me the keys and a few bucks for gas. He then asked who was driving since I didn't even have my license at the time. This was in stark comparison to the close parental controls that were in place for the older siblings. Either they had become wiser with age or perhaps just worn down by time. I prefer to think that they were simply wiser.

I purchased my first car when I was living in California during Graduate school. I finally reached my limit of riding my bike to work in the dark or borrowing a friend's car. I will admit that my legs were in pretty good shape from all the exercise though. After completing my degree, I drove across country in my little Datsun. I made stops at my sister's in the Grand Canyon, my Aunt and Uncle's in Iowa, and finished when I pulled into the family home in Massachusetts. The trip home capped off the 3 years on the west coast. The stay home was short lived, however, as I was soon planning my exodus to Mexico to start the next phase of my education.

So, what was to become of the Datsun? My younger brother stepped to the head of the line to take the keys. At the time he was working as a life guard at the beach, and he was in need of transportation. Who more logical than a well tanned life guard should be driving that California set of wheels? No one. He nicknamed it, Toby.

Several years later while I was home for some time off, I needed a car and Toby was still in service. A few modifications had been made since I had last sat in the driver's seat, The most notable was that those keys I had handed over years before were no longer needed. The car started with the push of a button, clever and interesting at the same time. If the door bell button didn't work, you could always resort to hot wiring it.

I am not sure what ever happened to Toby, but I believe there are many other untold stories associated with that first car. The irony in this case is that today's cars have adopted a similar technology, the push button starter, only the one found on Toby was slightly more rudimentary. Now, which button was it to start the car again? Ding, Dong. Sorry, wrong button!