Do We Need Another Car?

[#355] Date: 19th May, 2022

It has been an extremely busy day at work today, and in fact, I have yet to finish my tasks. Maybe I will have to pull a late night if I am not too sleepy yet, but first, let me rant a little. 

So, there I was slogging away at work when something made me blow up again. It's my dad bugging me to buy a car. What, another car? Our FIFTH car? We already have four cars at home. All four are road-worthy cars that are well maintained and have road tax. We only have three people who drive, and since I hardly drive because I have nowhere to go or am too busy to go anywhere, most of the cars are driven by my dad. Even when I do drive, I only drive my personal car which has an automatic transmission. I am not driving the other high-performance cars or those with manual gear. With four cars, it's really a chore just remembering which car had been taken out for a run, and which didn't get its engine started at all for some time already.

Two weeks ago, my aunt decided that our compound is large enough to park her spare car. She was parking it at another aunt's house because her own porch is too small for two vehicles. However, parking at the other aunt's house meant that she had to go over every few days to start the car to keep the battery primed. People in that household do not drive, so it's asking too much to get them to start the car. So, my aunt requested that her car be parked here and that we can help her to run her engine too by taking it out for a spin whenever we can. 

Since then, my dad has been bugging me to buy it from her because he loves the handling of the car. Years ago, when I wanted to purchase my second car, I wanted to buy this compact model. However, my dad talked me out of it and then went ahead to place a deposit on my current car, effectively forcing me to buy it. These days, he kept telling me that this is my dream car. Well, hello... it is no longer my dream car. The moment has passed, yo. I'm contented with my current car as it takes me to where I want to go without issues, so I really have no need for another car and definitely do not have an excuse to replace or trade-in my current ride. 

As you can tell, I am totally against buying yet another car because we already have more than enough. Besides, one more car means one more financial responsibility for me to bear. I know it. Really, when I am trying to live a no-frills life and declutter, I don't need excess of anything, not only cars. Or rather, particularly not cars!

Like a child, my dad has been bringing the subject up ever so often, and it is annoying when I am busy making a living. When I was a child myself, I never bothered my parents by asking them to buy me stuff. NEVER. Even during Children's Day or Teacher's Day or whatever special occasion that needed us to take some food or gifts to school, I never let them know and just went to school empty-handed. That's just the considerate me, I guess, because I knew that my parents wouldn't be able to afford it, and if they were to buy something for school, they are taking the money from somewhere else, such as our daily expenses. 

On the other hand, my dad is so stubborn, I have to tell him over and over again to just drive the car when it's being parked at our house. And he'd agree... and then comes again the desire to buy it.  Arghhh headache!

*Lead photo by Pixabay.