While parking the other day...

There are few things that a man loves more than his vehicle. No, that is not a euphemism for his penis, but a mans car says a lot about who he is. Where he comes from and who he answers to. I am a one man/one car and I buy used. I want to live within my means.

Some choose to adorn their steads with limericks and brand endorsements, I choose to go plain. I don't think I have to clutter. I like to keep it clean, but sometimes I feel like I live in the thing. I have to work on getting my trunk in order. It's a big ol trunk but sometimes I got too much junk in it. Again, this is not a metaphor for something else.

It's rare with so many generic cars that you can clearly define someone from the sound of their engine. A engine that brings with it a trail of gasoline which my friend and I immediately noticed, as the car passed by I noticed the back of the car marked with three letters GTO. Then the engine went silent. Bla BLa BLABLABLABLABLA the car moves up the parking lot ramp, the car stalls AGAIN, BLABLABLABLABLA SQUEEELLL, the air has a strong smell of gas and tire rubber, so is the way with old cars, before standards became standard.

Then I see fire, there is a trail of fire, just like in "Back to the Future" and first I think it's just a simple function of the car stalling out and burning out. I then look up the ramp and the driver is running down the ramp, and the car is on fire.

So I do what any blogger would have done, I pulled my camera out and asked my friend to take a picture while I made our getaway. My friends response was "We got to get out of here"

I responded with "I know, take the picture". She was thinking that we needed to leave the car, cause you can see that we are somewhat blocked in. All I can think is that, I've seen this movie; one car blows up, and then three others catch on fire, then like domino's they go off in daisy-chain fashion. So as we are pulling out, there is a group of people who are gathering engaged with the spectacle. It's curious how close we put ourselves in danger for the sake of a look.

As we head out, we see various people running with walkie talkies, I show the picture to the parking lot attendant who is already aware of the situation. A police car shows up and while waiting to open the barricade, I show him the picture so he knows what to expect as if 'car on fire' doesn't do the trick. Sometimes when we think we are helping, we are just annoying.

Driving away in my fairly new, stable, reliable, Ford Focus I feel a sense of adrenaline and thinking that I should have gotten out of my car and shot a bunch of pictures. Curious how close we put ourselves to danger for the sake of a thrill.