I was pretty proud of my first car. For one, I worked really hard to save up for a car and for two, I thought it was a pretty cool ride! Looking back, maybe I would rethink that second statement. It was a '76 Toyota Pickup and it was a bright baby blue with red windshield wipers, side mirrors, and license plate covers. I thought it was the greatest truck ever!
I was one of the first people among my group that had a car, so I was the one that did most of the driving. I didn't mind, I loved to drive! I think my little truck might have minded though, because after I had it for about a year, the reverse went out. Yes, the reverse. I didn't know it was possible to lose reverse entirely!
The only way for me to back up was to use my feet! I had to try whenever possible to park on a hill or an incline to get some kind of boost in backing up, because if I was on a level surface or slightly downhill, it was REALLY hard to back up with my one foot! I was always grateful to have a passenger, because I could put them to work.
My car affectionately got nicknamed the "Flintstone Truck" since I had to use my feet to backup! It was embarrassing. People would always be looking at me when I would get in my car and then stick my foot out and start pushing it back. I remember once I was at the mall and it was a busy mall day, so people were stalking you when you left to get your parking space. I got into my car and had to start pushing to get out of my space and it was a challenge to get it going, and the car waiting started honking at me and screaming at me from their window. It was awful! All I could say was "I don't have reverse, please stop honking!! It's not my fault!!"
There were a few times I couldn't get it to move by just using my foot, so I would have to get out and try to push it back with all my might. And once or twice I nearly lost control of it doing that. There was one time I was pushing from the outside and then when it got its momentum I had to run and jump in to stop it from getting away from me.
You might ask why I didn't just get the reverse fixed, but when I got an estimate, it turned out getting it fixed would cost almost as much as the car did! My Subway wages weren't going to allow for that.
As more of my friends got cars, less and less people wanted to drive with me. Anyone that would take a ride from me knew they would get a workout. I didn't think that was necessarily a bad thing.
The good and the bad of it was that my left leg got really strong...but the bad was that my left leg bulked up while my right leg stayed the same. It wasn't a pretty look!
I still have fond memories of the Flintstone truck. He will forever be my first!
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