Nothing But Words

The Giant Trash Can

Yesterday Kai said my car is “like a giant trash can.” It’s a rusty ‘88 Nissan Sentra I bought about 6 years ago for $800. It looks like a piece of junk but it runs fine. On the days I drive to work, it’s the perfect car for parking near my office in West Philly, as I don’t have to worry about anyone stealing it (Although Philadelphia is the country’s sixth largest city, it ranks third for auto theft, coming in behind LA and NY, and West Philly is not a good part of town).

One day in 2000, soon after we bought our shiny new Toyota Echo, I was working in the front yard, the Echo was in the driveway, and my Sentra was parked on the street. A skinny black boy - who looked to be about 8 years old - was walking by, and he started asking me about the Echo. He said he’d never seen a car like it (2000 was the first model year for the Echo). After I answered a few of his questions, he asked me “is it your car?” I said, “well, my wife usually drives it.” “Oh, what do you drive?”, to which I responded by silently pointing to my Sentra. He answered, “oh, I see how it is.”

Awfully sharp for an 8 year old.