Cars, nicknames and stuff

I think the commercial in which drivers carry on one-sided conversations with their cars is the stupidest thing.

I haven't changed my opinion, even though a new poll shows that more than a third of drivers thought their car had a personality of its own.

And 30 percent thought of their vehicles as male or female, with the vast majority owning she-cars.

I must confess that my first car, an orange 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle with a crank-it-yourself sunroof, had a nickname.

It was "The Balky Bitch." Any mechanic would have told me when I bought it that the recurring hiccup in its engine was gonna be big trouble.

But I was 18 and naive, and Balky — female, you'll note — waited a couple of months, until a 100-degree day in Martinsville, Ind., to blow up her engine on State Road 37.

Since then, a car's just been a car, or a pickup truck or an SUV to me.

It's not that I don't get attached to 'em. I just don't name 'em.

And I sure don't talk to 'em.

The Associated Press-AOL poll made a connection among many of those polled between a driver's personality and the kind of car they own.

Look in the Enquirer parking lot and you'll see a bunch of plain vanilla vehicles and a newsroom full of characters. No fit there, except one colorful editor's bright yellow vehicle. That car doesn't have a name, the editor says, but does get a talking-to from time to time.

Metro Editor Eric Greene said his old Ford Taurus, which he drove to the 221,000-mile mark, was named T-Rex, short for Taurus Rex.

CRANKY BOB

After I served as the medium to convey Carl Word's wisdom about the current violence in the community last Sunday, I read about a similar situation in another place where hopelessness had led to senseless shootings and death.

A newspaper reported over the weekend that this place had "rates of homicide, assault, robbery, rape and suicide stunningly above the national average."

A government report on the problems blamed the "education system, its high-school dropout rates, illiteracy rates and rates of smoking, suicide and sexually transmitted diseases."

The reporter writing the story said that alcohol and drug abuse were fueling the rage and despair felt by a segment of the community.

One man, asked about the problems, said, "There is already lots of help. Most people just don't want it. I don't know why."

The story said after a long pause, he added, "It's just too late for a lot of them, I guess."

The place? Nunavut, the new territory carved out of Canada's Northwest Territories seven years ago. Its mostly Inuit — indigenous — people have struggled mightily, the Globe and Mail of Toronto reported Jan. 13.

So if you're thinking of escaping all this, maybe it's time to think about doing the opposite of escaping — getting involved.

Comments

[Deter Xcress]

Bob,

What section of town do you live in? What types of programs are working in your neighborhood? Lets share what any family here in Battle Creek can do in their own back-yard. How often are do you see the Battle Creek Police screaming through your neighborhood with lights on and sirens blaring?

[Deter Xcress]

Bob,

What section of town do you live in? What types of programs are working in your neighborhood? Lets share what any family here in Battle Creek can do in their own back-yard. How often are/do you see/the Battle Creek Police screaming through your neighborhood with lights on and sirens blaring?

[KLM]

The Urban League should start workshops for strenghening the black family. Strong two parent families are a healthy environment to raise children and make a community strong. I can't help but wonder if the "parents" that Mr. Word refers to are the single black mothers who have to be mother and father to young men in need of a father's love and discipline. These young men do not know what a man is because they have rarely seen one in the context of a stable family. They take their definition of a man from movies, TV and violent music. Is it any wonder that things have degenerated into a situation where men are defined as impregnators who flee responsibility and seek violence.

[Robert Warner]

Dexter. I don't live in the city, but I'm here all the time and see plenty of the action. Any family can volunteer time at the Boys and Girls Club - even an hour a week. Any adult male can become involved in the Boys to Men program through the Urban League. The Rev. Creighton Mabry's Men in the Making summer program is always in need of willing and patient volunteers. Washington Heights Community Ministries has a bunch of programs going on that could grow with more people to assist them. If there's not a Neighborhood Watch in your neighborhood, Chris Lussier at the city's Neighborhood Services Department can help you set one up. The thing that would work in any neighborhood goes back to another day, when parents watched out for kids in the neighborhood, whether they were their kids or not. I know there are respect issues, among other things, but that sort of dealing with your own neighborhood kids yourself is how things stayed under control back in the day, if you'll allow me one more cliche.

[Robert Warner]

KLM, the Urban League has just such a program. I think it's called "Parent to Parent." It's held on Saturdays.
Bob

[Term Papers]

some give there cars a nick name.. which is sounds funny