The Pugnacious Irishman

My Ride

My students keep asking me, “Mr. B, why don’t you just fix your car? (My car door panel fell off last week. See the full story here.)” They ask it with almost the same incredulity as “Mr. B, why don’t you eat some food?”

To them, you gotta put up a good front. How am I gonna get chicks (or keep the one I got?), afterall? No girl is gonna wanna ride around in that piece of junk.

Most Californians (including yours truly) tend to think this way.

That made me ask myself: why, exactly, won’t I just get the car fixed? This brought up a lesson I keep having to learn from time to time: there’s a big difference between needs and wants.

Needs are the things you can’t live without: God, people, a roof, food, and a few other things. Wants are the things you *think* you can’t live without; computer, a (nice) car, etc. The thing is, most Americans confuse the two. Most people think a good looking car that preserves your image and comfort is a need, but its not. I tend to think that way too, and this whole shpeel is stripping me of that confusion.

I don’t need to fix my car. Door panel: not a necessity. Good brakes: necessity. What I’m missing is just aesthetics, and that’s not a big deal. I’m saving up money for another car down the road (paying cash…its the right thing to do), and fixing my car so I won’t get weird looks on the freeway and at work really isn’t a priority now.

Steve, a mentor of mine in college, bought a nice looking SUV during my sophomore year. A bunch of us were gawking at the vehicle: “Steve, nice SUV dude!” “Sweet ride, bro!” His response? “Fellas…one day, its gonna burn.”

He’s right…see the quote below my blog name, as well as the words of Jesus.

I’m pretty much the talk of the school. A fellow colleague came into my class and poked fun at me in front of my whole class today. Frankly, it doesn’t bother me at all; gotta let it roll off the back, cuz lets face it, one day, its all gonna burn…only three things will last.