The New Car

We were told in January that getting the car we wanted was going to take time. In fact, if I understood he salesperson correctly, we shouldn’t expect to see it before summer. That supply chain problem.

Then, a month ago, we got the call. The car was ready and being shipped to the dealer.

What happened? It seems all the parts needed serendipitously appeared at the factory in Japan at the right time.

Of course, there were various delays, like our being halfway across the country, but that was okay.

We contacted the credit union, agreed to pay for the check to be overnighted by FedEx. Check didn’t arrive overnight. Called the credit union. New person said they don’t do that. Yes, she sees in the computer that it was offered, but she’s not sure why. Because they don’t do that.

What they do do is drop a very large check in the regular mail. I couldn’t believe it. Do they live in the same country I do? Six business days later it arrived. We were more than a little relieved, considering our banking near-disaster six months ago. To everyone’s relief we were able to pick up the car.

The first day I walked around it a few times. It took me a little while to figure out the color, even though I know you can’t expect too much from a color name. It’s Blizzard Pearl. So, it’s white, right? But I was stuck on Pearl. Pearl makes me think pearlescent. In my mind, that’s swirly pastels. That doesn’t work for a car. I had to focus on Blizzard. In sunlight, it looks like a new snowfall with an icy finish. Okay, got it.

Next, I sat in it and admired all the screens and buttons and dials. I have no idea what any of them do, but they are shiny and new like everything else about this car.

My entire life, with every new car, my dad would ask if I’d read the Owner’s Manual. I hated disappointing him, but I had to say no. He would always say that I really needed to read it. I know, Dad.

But they’re so thick. And tedious. I mean, just looking at it made my eyelids get heavy. And cars didn’t used to be so hard to figure out.

But I had decided that this time I would do it. It looks like I really don’t have a choice. I’m never going to figure out all the controls by trial and error. And I’m afraid what an error might lead to. An explosion? Lift off?

So, to the manual. There’s no manual. Called our salesperson. She’s on vacation. Probably enjoying her commission. She says there should be a manual. But there isn’t. She’ll look into it when she gets back. She thought it was funny that my husband said we were dinosaurs and couldn’t deal with having all the info on our phones. Not sure she understood that he wasn’t joking. In the meantime, I can go forward and backward and turn on the headlights. I haven’t even found the button that turns on the radio.

I think I’m going to end up keeping the manual, when it arrives, on the seat next to me and flipping the pages to find what I need moment by moment.

That’ll work, don’t you think?