Why we don’t need a second car
Notice how the antenna’s top is hidden by fog? Rainy Sunday.
Raining so strong that we can’t go out? Isn’t Sunday the day when we leave our house, albeit reluctantly for me, so we can get reacquainted with the smelly metropolis known as Metro Manila? No, it’s foggy and rainy but not the kind of rains that cause floods. Why then am I blogging on a Sunday?
The car broke down. There was a leak in the clutch and Speedy had to call the mechanic. Fortunately, he was willing to work on a Sunday.
I was spying on them through the window of the study.
I slung the camera strap around my neck and held the camera outside the window.
Had to take more than a dozen shots — some were angled wrong and the figures were not quite discernible.
That’s Speedy wearing the shirt with a hole near the shoulder.
Work on the car clutch was done by 1.30 but it was too late to go out to do all the things we were planning on doing today. At any rate, there’s tomorrow and tomorrow’s a holiday.
That’s one problem with having only one car. When it goes out of commission, you either get it fixed pronto! or take public transport. Why only one car? What will we do with two? We used to have two but that was when I was still working. When we moved to the suburb in 2001 in a house that had room for only one car, we sold the other one. Speedy drove me to and from the office and we managed. Soon after, I quit working and there was even less reason to get another car. I let my driver’s license expire and never bothered renewing it.
Much, much later, Speedy did offer to get a second car for me. You know, so I wouldn’t have to wait around for him if I wanted to go shopping or meet up with friends… But it wasn’t wise to park one car in the garage and the other out on the street in the old neighborhood. That’s looking for trouble. Besides, I always suspected he was just trying to wiggle out of his dad-job. You know… driving the girls to parties and picking them up, running errands, etcetera, etcetera.
And now that we have room for three cars? No, thank you, I still say. The girls will just turn me into a taxi driver. I’ve seen a prelude and I know what will happen. The times when Speedy was out of town or out of the country, there were times when I was making six to eight trips a day just driving the girls to and from their multiple destinations. And I had to do the grocery shopping and run errands to boot. Why subject myself to that eh? Isn’t that what fathers are for? 
More importantly, with the price of gasoline (and spare parts and other auto supplies), who wants the aggravation? Is it justified to spend twice as much on car maintenance?
But the most important reason… Who wants to be a driver when one can be a relaxed and pampered passenger? I prefer reaching my destination unruffled and in a good mood. I prefer getting home in the same condition. And that’s hardly possible with the driving conditions in Metro Manila.
Get a chauffeur? I don’t think so. Speedy and I are both backseat drivers. Even a patient chauffeur will quit after a week. That’s why when it’s time for the girls to learn to drive, we’ve agreed that a driving school is best. My father taught me to drive and he was a backseat driver and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for both of us.
And when the girls are old enough to drive, then Speedy can get that second car he’s been offering me. And by that time, there won’t be any need for me to get a chauffeur, right? 
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Ms. Sassy, you accused Speedy of “trying to wiggle out of his dad-job” yet that’s what you’re trying to do when you refused his offer of a 2nd car. Lifes not fair. At least in my case my wife doen’t knew how to drive. My only take is everytime we’re in the car, its like I’m driving an airplane. I always have a co-pilot.
LOL it’s a dad-job. I don’t wiggle out of my mom-jobs like, you know, shopping using his credit card hehehehe Kidding. Actually, if I use the credit card extension, he makes me pay for whatever I spent anyway. Not fun.
Imagine what she’d be like if your wife knew how to drive. She wouldn’t just be a co-pilot — she’d be THE PILOT but letting you handle the wheel. LOL
dear connie, alam mo naiintindihan kita. Nung umpisa ang sarap mag drive pero habang tumatagal napapansin ko para na akong driver. Lahat ako… ako na lang lahat…ang dami pang mga drivers na akala mo kanila kalye kung mag overtake sayo napapa asshole ako kahit di ko alam ibig sabihin nun.At tsaka sa Sumulong nakakainis mga trucks di ka makapag overtake tyempuhan mo pa bago ka makarating sa pupuntahan mo may balbas na yung ka date mo sa tagal. Haaaay…. share ko lang sayo ito english sana ko kaya lang baka masyado ka ma impress… lol …love your blog…nakakaaliw at nakakarelax
dsinno, agree. Nung student ako, driving spelled total freedom. Para akong nakawala. By the time I was working, the feeling was gone. Nabanggit mo ang Sumulong, do you know how many tricycles ply that highway and they don’t have taillights? Obligasyon ko pa to watch out for them? Ganun? Grrr.
hi mam! correct kayo na magiging driver lang kayo. i know how to drive; but, i am very reluctant to drive especially when i have to drive my husband. hay naku, magkakaroon kayo ng heart attack sa pagiging backseat driver. not to mention, nakakawala pa ng diskarte! hehe. more power to your site!
OK talaga sa atin because mechanics do house calls. Dito you have to drive or have your car towed to the repair shop. BTW, is that a “designer hole” in Speedy’s shirt? Biro lang.
cheann, hehehe wives seem to agree.
bertN, eh pano if the car won’t move anymore — you have to have it towed to the mechanic’s?
“Designer hole” — he has a lot of shirts with designer holes hehehe He loves them.
“I prefer reaching my destination unruffled and in a good mood. I prefer getting home in the same condition. And that’s hardly possible with the driving conditions in Metro Manila.”
I just don’t understand how the warm, friendly pinoy Dr. Jekels I meet all day turn into rude, agressive Mr. Hyde wannabes as soon as they get behing the wheel of a car. Is it the anonymity that allows them to drop any pretense of social niceties and become flaming a*$holes?
Yes, unfortunately you have no choice. Kailangan ipahila mo sa tow truck to a mechanic’s garage and once it’s there, you are at their mercy. Whatever they say goes, unless you have it towed to another garage and the story repeats itself. Grrrrr.
I love faded shirts and pants with “designer holes” but my wife gets rid of them and replaced them with ones with atrocious designs and colors you have to be continually “under the influence” to have the nerve to wear them LOL.
My wife wants to learn how to drive. I always tell her that after a while she’ll just get tired of it.
But it would be something important later if we continue our regular travels out of town, so that we could take shifts for things like, 14-hour trips to Ilocos.
Miguk, I read somewhere that men associate the power of the engine with masculinity. Hence, the preference for powerful cars, the penchant for attaching those accessories that are only meant for race cars…
bertN, hey, I do that too — throw away Speedy’s disgustingly old clothes. He had a shirt that was so old that the neckline was tattered but he kept wearing it until friends begged him not to. HAHAHA Seriously. It was a maroon shirt.
Jon, like swimming, driving is a useful skill. But driving these days takes more than skill — patience and lakas ng loob are more important.
Hi Connie,
Yes, its true, magiging driver ka lang lalu pag maraming errands. Kaya di ko na tinuloy ang pag aaral kong mag drive, so I am a beautiful passenger always. Ako na lang ang taga sigaw sa mga asshole na drivers lalu mga jeepney drivers.
Nakaka aliw ang blog na ito, it’s really entertaining. Kaya lang marami ang hindi marunong bumasa, looking for a job in this blog, ano ba yan! Re: Fiesta Resort in Angono.
Susan, you should see the threads in Pinoy Cook. Every page has a notice that I don’t e-mail recipes, sige pa rin. Pati franchising, nire-request, hay naku.
I’ve heard its overcompensating for other ‘inadequacies’
What is the difference between a porcupine and some pinoy drivers? On the porcupine the p*$%k is on the outside hahahaha
HAHAHAHA I love your term for it — ‘inadequacies’ hahahaha
bakit butas lahat ang mga t-shirt nung mga lalaki sa picture?
BWEHEHEHE.
pareho ata kami ni speedy – ayaw magtapon ng mga comfortable na damit.
HOARDER kayo! HAHAHAHAHA