Everyone has memories about the first car that they ever owned or that their parents, friends or loved ones gave them. For me, my first car was a 2001 Altima that my father bought for me in 2001 when I was in college.
There is a saying that beggars cannot be choosers, and trust me, I wasn t begging when my father announced that we were going to go to the Nissan dealership to look at cars for me. I was THRILLED. I was going to have my own car my own vehicle that I could personalize and leave my stuff in and make my own. No more harassing my parents about driving me to my friends houses or driving me to and from track practice or other various school meetings that I had. In retrospect, I think my parents were probably saving money by buying me a relatively inexpensive vehicle knowing that I was going several states away to college.
No parent can stomach the thought of their child wandering around without a means of transportation, at least not the parents on Long Island. I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood and went to school with kids whose first cars were brand new BMWs, Lexuses and Infinities. Therefore, it really was not a huge deal for my Dad to go the conservative route and purchase an Altima for me. I was thrilled nonetheless. Suddenly the roles were changed, and I could choose to let my younger brother (who had recently acquired his driver s license but who was still without a vehicle) borrow my car. If I wanted to go for a run at one of the state parks, I didn t have to wait for an opportunity or a time when either of my parents were free to take me. Instead, I could simply jump in my car and go.
My little Nissan Altima had a silver exterior and was the “sporty edition”. This simply meant that it had a 6 cd changer stereo system ( which was then a big deal) and a few other little features like a power sunroof. What I had added on after the fact was a rear spoiler for the back of the car as well as tinted windows. I remember thinking how awesome my little car looked. I couldn t wait to get back to college so that I could personalize it with a few tasteful bumper stickers that represented my college as well as my sport: cross country and track. You see, when I was growing up, because my father always drove a company car, we were never allowed to put anything personal on his car like bumper stickers; and even though my mother s car was her own car, she never liked the idea of having bumper stickers on a vehicle because she thought it looked “silly” and cluttered.
I still remember that little car. I remember asking the car sales woman whether or not my car stereo would come with a tape player in it. I also remember being really disappointed when she told me that most vehicles were being manufactured without tape players in them. How much time has changed the cars that we drive!
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