Disappointing realization about my neighbors

"5-Speed Gangsta" (5-Speed-Gangsta)
10/25/2014 at 17:53 • Filed to: None

Growing up with my father and I both being car enthusiasts, I had never really thought about some things we do differently from our neighbors.

For example, it seems none of our neighbors ever wash their cars, or drive stick, and none of them have any car that is even a bit of fun.

But above all, as I walked my dog today I witnessed something I didn't completely understand. Picture a man in his own driveway putting a spare tire on his black Honda Accord. He does not own a jack and instead uses the one that came with the car. But before he changes the tire, he attempts to put air in the old one... With a bicycle pump.

It is disappointing to know that nobody here cares about cars as much as I do.

Some (iPhone) pics of my family's fleet for your time

DISCUSSION (11)

E92M3 > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 18:41

Hey at least he was trying to do it himself. I recently saw a very muscular guy on the side of the road watching a state trooper twice his age change his flat for him. His father truly failed him...

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 18:43

Well the last example just sounded like a not so handy man giving one more whirl at a miracle fix for his bad tire. Sounds like a funny image, though.

I'm pretty biased towards sticks myself, all of my cars are sticks, and I think everyone should know at least how to drive one.

I don't really care about cleaning my vehicle's exterior. I'll wash off bird poo and such, but I might clean my car twice a year. It rains all the time here, so it's dirty the second you drive away. I keep my interiors spotless because I'm already married to someone who trashes their cabin and I cannot stand it.

5-Speed Gangsta > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/25/2014 at 19:04

True, at least he was trying. The problem really wasn't with him, I had just never thought about the fact that not everybody has the same equipment as my family does to take care of their cars. If I wanted to put air in a tire I would just use our compressor.

My mother is also a believer that everybody should know how to drive stick; however, she prefers auto so I understand why they wouldn't want to. My father has always driven stick up until his current car, but even now he is trying to get back into a standard. Again, I just had never realized that others don't enjoy manual transmissions as much as he and I do.

I also hate it when people have trashy interiors, but I also prefer to have the exterior clean. Although I understand where you are coming from with the exterior, I really do believe that people should at least run their car through the gas station car wash on a regular basis.

5-Speed Gangsta > E92M3
10/25/2014 at 19:12

True, at least he was trying. Changing a tire is something everybody should be able to do, I bet that guy was a little embarrassed.

Party-vi > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 19:20

Not really sure why you're giving him flack for using the jack that came with his care for the exact reason it came with the car :P

Also, some people just aren't care people. Take, for instance, my fiancee, who's only criteria on whether a car is good or not is if it has turn-indicators on the side mirrors.

thebigbossyboss > Party-vi
10/25/2014 at 19:34

HAHAHAHA. That is an odd criteria...

5-Speed Gangsta > Party-vi
10/25/2014 at 19:38

I wasn't really trying to say anything about him personally, I just thought everybody owned a floor jack. Something I believed when I was much younger that I had never really thought about until today.

Trust me, I understand that not all people care about cars. I have many family members who have proved that to me.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 19:55

Sometimes a person has to work with what they've got. Right now I don't own an air compressor, so if I was in a real bind, I'd have to use my bike pump. Mind you, I've got enough tires around (between summer and winter tires) that I doubt that'd be a problem, but still...

Party-vi > thebigbossyboss
10/25/2014 at 20:28

Literally the only thing she cares about.

Steve in Manhattan > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 21:18

I am in apartment 911 - no, really. 914, on my right, had a nice older lady living in it, but she started to get dementia, and her kids took her to live with them. They're rehabbing the apartment now, so noise weekdays, otherwise nothing. Lady on the other side is out of town most of the time. Guy across the hall has been here 48 years, has no plans to move, makes no noise. And my apartment faces the back, so there's no noise from Amsterdam Avenue. I have no information on anyone's views about cars, although when I showed my doorman a GT-R parked in front of the building, he sort of knew what it was.

SonorousSpeedJoe > 5-Speed Gangsta
10/25/2014 at 21:20

A lot of the houses in my neighborhood have beige cars (multiple copies/generations in some cases), but there are some car guys here and the number of interesting cars has been increasing as of late. My Focus is a manual, as are some other cars around here.

I don't care about washing my car very much because I pass by some sort of quarry or something on my way to and from class - there's a lot of dirt and water runoff from there on the road that gets kicked up by cars that use that road every day, so my car will get pretty dirty very quickly. Hell, one of the trucks there sprayed little dots of tar/goop all over my Focus once - there are still some spots on the rubber moldings after the car was taken through a drive-through car wash.