It’s another Outback, a silver third-gen car with leather and sunroof. He washes it constantly. Which basically means he’s always washing it. As in, never not washing it. The cop I just mentioned? Well, just as they leave Tim Hortons on their way to a call a few months ago, his partner spots a guy cleaning out his trunk behind a Rubber Duck Car Wash. At 5:00 AM. Isn’t that suspicious? Like, did this guy murder his wife or something? As they cruise by, my constable buddy realizes he knows the guy. “Ah, that’s normal. I know him. He’s alright.” Although when I hear the story about 48 hours later I berate him for not calling to make sure my mother was… you know, alive and well. Increasingly, GoodCarBadCar.net is a reflection of how I spend my time, analysing auto sales data. There’s still the odd review, an infrequent style analysis, some impressions of an important new car. But this is a statistics-based site now. If that leads you to believe my father is no longer the inspiration behind every automotive thing I do, you’re wrong. And as much as automotive-related topics consume most of my day, most of my small talk with friends and family, and an inappropriate portion of my thought-life, the inspiration my father has provided for other aspects of my life have a far greater impact on me and thus the people who know me well. So to hockey dads who transport their sons to practice on cold winter mornings, artsy dads who teach their 6-year old daughters to paint, chef dads who teach their kids how to make pancakes for their mother’s birthday, car dads who teach their sons the meaning of torque, and to my own father: Happy Father’s Day. |
