Dynamics

I consider myself to be pretty mindful of the world around me, and I do not believe myself to take things for granted. I still believe that to be true, but having a car was one thing to which I had become accustomed. As I wrote in a previous entry, I know what it's like to be dirt poor, to not have a place to call my own, to do without food, luxuries, vacations, but I never really had to do without the ability to come and go as I please. That is until recently. In case the picture doesn't paint a good enough, uh, picture, I was in an accident, and I do not consider it to be my fault. The cops and insurance company may beg to differ, but hey, they were not there, so what do they know? In the end, it does not matter what they know or what they don't, because I am very likely to get the shaft on this one. Come to think of it, I've gotten the shaft as a result of every car accident I've ever been in (though thankfully, I had not been in one in over a decade).

If you have a car, you can pretty much travel 250 miles or so and still make it back home in time to sleep. If you don't have a car, even if you have a bike, you're limited to about a 5 mile radius, depending on how far you want to pedal or walk. Then there's the problem of not being able to carry many things (such as groceries) with you. You might be thinking of public transportation, but that actually gives you less time to do things. Buses can be late as hell, but they can never be early. In any case, it steals time from you. Perhaps it's better in other cities, but in Houston, the public transportation system leaves much to be desired. Also, taxis are not cheap.

Then there's the problem of weather. If it rains, you and your things get soaked. You get it. And if it's cold.... A car is your shelter and your link to more potential experience; not having one changes all of the dynamics of your life.

I once considered the internet to be the one luxury I would not want to do without, but due to recent events, I know now that having a car is luxury numero uno. Given my circumstances, I am not sure what comes next for me, but I do know that I do not want my world to be any smaller than it absolutely has to be. A very cheap vehicle, or perhaps a motorcycle could be in my near future. I figured I would be down in the dumps about all of this, but in the end, I'm just thankful that no one was seriously hurt. My neck feels like someone hit it with a baseball bat, but that will go away in a couple of days. Time heals wounds, right?