The Dow Is Up!

This weekend, I went up to the family house in Wisconsin. (I assigned it a nickname, but now I can't remember it. Crap.) It was a work weekend. My brother came up with me to help me finish the basement. (My mom also came up to feed us, which was immeasurably wonderful.)

On the way up, we talked about numerous things. One of the things we talked about was the vehicles we drive. As our families are expanding, we're getting bigger and bigger cars. I mentioned that I was thinking about getting a minivan next. My brother scoffed at the idea, saying he'd never get one.

"Sure, they have more room, get better mileage and are more comfortable, but I could never own one." Why not? "Because it's a MINIVAN."

And my brother's not alone in thinking this. Hell, I used to think this. Then 6 months ago, my brother-in-law got married in Sacramento and we rented one. It was GREAT. I fell in love with it. Now I'm actually looking forward to getting one.

And that's when I realized that I've lost all my coolness. I was never that cool to begin with. (After all, I was captain of my math team in high school.) But admitting that I wanted a minivan was just the icing on the cake. Minivans are SO practical, especially after driving impractical cars like a huge-ass pickup truck or a tiny Jeep. And at this point in my life, I'd rather make my life easier than look cool.

The problem is that this thinking leads to polyester pants pulled up to your armpits and cutting the lawn in black socks and sandals.