Drive

Some of us have fond memories of the first time we learned to drive. I know I do. I was 13 years old, yes that is early, but I grew up on a rural island in the Puget Sound in the late 1970’s. It’s just what happened back then.

I was a natural at driving and felt immense freedom being behind the wheel of a car. It was not the first time I was behind the wheel though. I dreamed of driving when I was 5 years old. I imagined I was driving around town. Many dreams were of me trying to find a way to sit high enough to look out the window and touch the pedals at the same time. A few dreams were sprinkled with brushes with the law, cops pulling me over and I having to tell them, “I’m just a kid” as if they couldn’t tell and as if that would get me anywhere.

If you like driving then surely you like cars that drive well. My personal car collection is not as colorful as my job experiences, but I have always driven manual transmission, “stick shift.”

In 2000 I worked for Barrier Motors, a local Pacific Northwest dealership. I sought them out so I could learn more about cars, in particular, Porsche. From the time I was 11 years old I was in love with the 911 Carrera. A friend of the mother of one of my childhood friends had just bought one. She was a business woman who bought her first sports car and came to take us for a spin. It was a red Porsche 911 Cabriolet (convertible). My friend and I climbed into the back seat and had the expereince of a lifetime! I don’t know if it had the same intoxicating effect on her as it did on me, but I was hooked.

Jimmy Barrier, of Barrier Motors, must have also fallen in love with cars and driving as he owned quite a few dealerships 18 years ago. I met Jimmy and his wife Patty a few times. Jimmy is a polite Southerner with a big smile, never James, never Jim, always Jimmy.

When I worked for Jimmy I started as a showroom greeter. I spent a few weeks greeting customers, then graduated to sales. I had no knowledge of car specifications or the engine and was assured I could be trained on that. However I did know people and used all my intuitive, telepathic skills to navigate the gray area of the business. I needed to use all my tools as in truth, I knew nothing about the “structure of a deal.” My main goal selling cars was to learn about them, drive them, and although I sold Audi’s and Jaguar’s, Porsche’s were my favorite and more specifically, the 911.

The photo above was the first Porsche I ever sold. It was a pre-own and had belonged to a guy named, Bruce. He shared his full name with a famous fellow who died too soon, but that is another story altogether. I loved that car! Driving it was a dream. I would take it out for test drives, just to “learn” how it performed in order to better sell it. It didn’t sit on the roof too long, I know because I sold it to it’s new owner. I just wished the new owner was me.

Driving has been so much a part of my life, my metaphors, my teachings, my word tracks. I would jump off my death bed to drive one more time! What do you LOVE! What would you jump off your death bed to do one more time? I know I will be driving for some years to come and in a world where public transit is the way to go, I will still be driving.

You might choose public transit, but metaphorically speaking, keep in the drivers seat… it’s the only way to navigate your life!

Happy trails,

Talese