The Ghetto Cruiser

Just last night at a dinner party with family and friends we were talking about the cost of raising children today. We started reminiscing about when we grew up. Today in the United States one car per child seems to be the norm. This is not the case in Europe. When I come home (to the states)  I am amazed to see how many cars are in  each driveway and frankly  I am a bit shocked. Back in the day when my Mom and Dad had 8 teenagers at once we shared one car.

We named our car “the Ghetto Cruiser.” It was a grey Toyota, beaten up and rusty. You could actually see the road through the floorboards because of the rust. I can’t believe this piece of junk passed inspection. The crazy thing was that we all loved having a car so much that we didn't care that it was a junker. The deal was; we had to work out our schedule and gas costs. That car ran on fumes because no one wanted to pay for anyone else’s gas. I was the lucky one because by the time I was a teen a lot of my siblings had left and I only had to share with two others.

About two years ago my car needed to be fixed and the garage only had an awful car to give me as a replacement. Here I was in my dress and my nice handbag and the man asked me if I could tolerate driving an old rusty car with no air conditioning and nothing automatic for a few days. I smiled and said I would enjoy it. I think he thought I was slightly crazy as I popped my handbag into the car, rolled the window down, blasted the radio and drove off. For a few moments I was back in my teen days. It reminded me that you don’t need a lot to be happy and teaching kids to share is essential. I will forever be grateful to my parents for teaching me this powerful lesson.