Loaner car … I hardly knew you

To the loaner car with Pennsylvania license plates I got from the dealership …

What is your life like? I saw the name and address of a rental car company on the back of your key. Does the dealership call down to the rental car place to borrow you when they need a car for a customer?

Or did you used to be a rental car, but you’ve been phased out? Is that disappointing, a life of temporary hauls for otherwise-inconvenienced customers instead of adventures to and fro?

The guy at the dealership sure seemed to know where your dings and scratches were, without even looking.

I didn’t even have to pay for you or fill you up with gas, just not use too much of it and not bring any animals in the car.

It’s not even like they gave me a really nice loaner car in hopes that I’d like it so much I’d want to buy a new one. You were a nice car, and drove really well, but you’re a Hyundai Elantra at a Honda dealership.

But, the memories we’ll have … the nine miles from the dealership to my house.

The sitting in my driveway until the dealer called to say my car was ready.

And then the nine miles back, the traffic that sent me another route. The sitting water on the road, a combination of rain and melting snow.

No, I have no idea why the road seemed like it hadn’t been repaved since the Model T days. I’ve driven it before; it wasn’t that bad. Sorry about that.

You’ll go down in history next to the Bananamobile, minus the funny origin story, the travels around sunny Southern California and, of course, being bright yellow.

But without you, I either would have been at the dealer’s all afternoon and into the evening or had to take the shuttle home, which probably would have required my wife and I making a trip out of our way tomorrow morning.

So thanks.

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