52 AMERICANWAY
JANUARY 1 2008
TheVehicle:
HondaFit
ThelengTh:
Justover13feet
ThePersonaliTy:
PePPylittlebugger
MsrP:
$13,950
Apathetic admission:Upondelivery of the
Fit, I headed straight to a Starbucks 20
blocks frommyapartment.And thenIwent
to themall.Yes, it seems that thereal reason
Iwant a car is to live anadult versionofmy
suburbanNewJersey youth.
But the joy that quick ride brought! A
first flash of freedom. The gray skies were
threatening to drop some drizzle, and I
didn’t evenhave toweigh thepros and cons
of making a trip against the chance that I
could get caught at a shelterless bus stop
in the rain. And if I’dpurchased some item
but hadn’t wanted to drag it backup tomy
apartment, I could’ve left it in the car over-
night (one of the truly great car things that
most auto owners don’t even think about).
Toolingdown the street in the rather roomy
Honda Fit, I envisioned a week of stuffing
the hatchback full of necessities. Within
minutes, I started panicking about the end
of the experiment:Howwould I be able to
giveupall this freedom?
That feeling lasted until I returned
home, a venti soy latte in my driver’s-side
cupholder.Thenanew senseofdreadcame
overme: Itwas time toparallel park, anac-
tivity Ihadprettymuchavoided for thepast
14 years. Though I rent cars when I travel,
e
verybodyhasanoPinion
on whether New Yorkers should own cars. At the
meremention that I was thinking about ponying up the bucks to buy (or lease)
four wheels of my own, a friend who lives upstate insisted that it would be too
muchof apain, saying that if I live in the city, I should stickwithpublic transpor-
tation—why subject myself to car payments and parking hassles? But, oh, the
dream of a car. Of having a small space ofmy own inwhich I couldbe out in the
world, blasting ’80smusic (sans headphones), without having towait, wait, wait for a train, a bus,
a this, a that. Of skedaddling from town at amoment’s notice (if the traffic isn’t too bad) without
checking theLong IslandRailRoad timetable.Plus, tobehonest, sometimes I justget sickof rolling
jugs of cat litter home inmy grannyish shopping cart.Oh, for the chance togo toTarget, tobuy the
giant tubof litter and an eight-packof paper towels andbedonewith such shopping for awhile!
Mydreamshadbeendeferred for far too long. Itwas time foranexperiment inbig-cityautoowner-
ship. Iborrowed three small cars—perfect for swooping into the smaller-than-they-appear parking
spaces inmyneighborhood—andaSegwayPersonalTransporter, capableof terrifying small dogs at
12.5mph.Here’show they, and I, fared.
