Warning: Shallow entry ahead.

After reading my last blog, I realized that 2 months ago, my Saturdays wouldn't be as packed. My Saturdays were spent waiting at home for A to pick me up at around 6pm so we could go out. In fact, sometimes we would argue because he loves sleeping in on weekends while I wanted to do as much as I could so as not to waste the day and time.

You see, two months ago, I didn't have a car. Two months ago, I didn't know how to drive. Yes, at the age of 23, I relied on a driver. The opportunity to learn was there. In fact, I did learn but I never got to practice because I didn't have a car to practice on. My family had 2 cars. One car was an automatic, which is my dad's. The other was a van shared by my mom and the kids. I couldn't really practice with the van since it was always out of the house, bringing and picking up my siblings to and from school and any time in between, the car was being used by my mom. So having no car to practice on was my reason. (By the way, I found out that this was also the reason why some of my girlfriends don't drive!)

I was beginning to hate the situation I was in. I hated relying on others to bring me anywhere to the point that I would decide not to go anymore because I didn't want to inconvenience others. I thought of getting a second hand car with my own savings. My dad discouraged me because getting a second hand car was like getting second hand headaches. Whatever troubles the former owner had with the car, I would also be inheriting them. True. My dad told me that it would be best to just buy a brand new car and pay for it the monthly fee for four years. With my salary and the benefits I'm getting now, I could do that. But, who knows if I'll still be working for the same company in four years? Four years is a looooong time! Knock on wood, but what if something happens to the company? Because of that uncertainty, I had to shelf the idea for awhile.

After a short while, probably two weeks after making such a conclusion, one February day, a fairy godmother, in the form of my grandmother, gave me a call. My grandmother convinced my grandfather to give me his car because he was buying a new one. My grandfather was buying a new car because his car got involved in a marital dispute. The car was the victim. Apparently, the car was parked outside his office in Ermita. A woman was so furious with her husband that she chased him with a kaldero (pot) in her hand. In her anger, she hurled the pot at him. The husband, obviously had good reflexes, ducked. And poor car's rear windshield shattered to smitherins. Good ol' Grandpa just decided to just buy a new car (wow! where's the logic there?).

Going back to the phone conversation, my grandmother told my grandfather to just have the car fixed and give it to me instead. She told him that I was doing well at work and sometimes, I take a cab going to the office. Grandma confides that it's better if the car goes to me rather than somebody else (my grandfather is known to be very generous to his friends). My grandmother gave me a "script." She told me to call my grandfather and say, "Lolo, sabi ni Lola bibigay mo raw sa akin yung kotse! (Grandpa, Grandma said you're giving me your car!" This way, my grandfather can't back out. My lola is so funny and sneaky, I love her! Hehehe!

I contributed to the growing traffic of Manila on 23 March 2004, the day I got my license. I still enjoy driving myself around. Sometimes, in the middle of traffic, I catch myself thinking how lucky I am to have gotten my own car without shedding a penny (or in our case, a centavo). I can now come and go as I please. Before, my dad would make me up at 9am and tell me to get ready because we were going to the office already... and then, we would actually leave the house at 1pm. It was the waiting for him to get dressed that killed me. If I hitched with my mom, she would be dressed early but she was doing so many things (I swear, her time management skills are the worst!) that we would leave 2 hours later (It was waiting for her to get things done that also killed me). At night, my dad would leave the restaurant at 12mn or 1am. Where as I have been wanting to go home since 9pm (It was boredom that was killing me). As a result, A would pick me up everyday and take me home. I felt bad for him because he could have just rested at home but no matter how tired he was, he'd take me home. Since he took me home, we didn't want him to just drop me off. We wanted to spend time together. Thus, he'd leave my house at 1am and wake up for work at 6am that day (it was the lack of sleep that killed A).

Now, nobody cares if I wake up at noon, shower and leave the house right away. Nowadays, I even bring A home. My weekends are more packed now because I didn't have to wait for A to pick me up to take me shopping or do my errands. I can now meet up with friends for lunches or dinners, unlike before, where I had to be picked up by one of them. Though I must admit that up to now, I haven't gone to any mall because I was terrified of parking. I couldn't parallel park to save my life! As for parking at work, luckily, there are parking slots alloted to restaurant owners in the area where I work and when I do parallel park, there are hardly any cars. Usually, I'm the first one to arrive.

In a sense, having my own car gave me independence. If I had something to do, I just leave my house. Sure, I'd tell my parents where I was going but they did not stop me nor was I being stopped because I had no means to get around. Since my car was given to me by my grandparents and not my parents, they can't just use it to do errands for the house. If they need my car, they would have to ask me first. In that way, I also felt a sense of ownership.

Probably the one downfall of having your own car is the expenses it entails. I spent so much to have it fixed up (change tires, add a CD/ MP3 player, add a car alarm and central locking, buy seat covers, etc). I spent more again when the air conditioning system broke down and a part had to be replaced. I spent once again when I had to buy a new battery for my car. Yup, a huge chunk of my savings went down the drain. I'm just lucky that the engine doesn't consume much gas.

I know I keep raving about my independence though honestly, after 2am, I'm not. My dad starts calling me after 2am if I have the car with me. He worries about me getting into accidents as there are a lot of drunk drivers on the road after 2am. But goodness, if I didn't bring the car with me, he wouldn't even bother to call! (I like it that way actually!)

Having my own car gives me a sense of responsibility, independence, and yes, even adulthood. Sometimes, while sitting in traffic (yes, we all do a lot of thinking while stuck in traffic), I smile to myself, half believing that this is real-- that I have my own car and I could just come and go as I please and that yes, I am very, very lucky that I have generous grandparents.