Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Will Lack of a Car Lead to Divorce

Will Lack of a Car Lead to Divorce

My wife and I are now a one car family.  Our lease ended and we gave back the car that I was driving; leaving us with one car.  We felt this was a good idea for economic reasons, it would save us money.

What this means for us, is either scheduling use of the one car or both of us going to the same places all the time.

Initially this seems like a good idea. Barbara, my wife, doesn’t really like to drive and won’t drive at night or long distances.  In the last 2 ½ years we have put only 10,000 miles on the car she was driving, and part of that mileage was by me driving it on weekends.

Now, I will be driving her car 90% of the time.  She will be with me most of that time.

Everyone has warned us against this. 

 I have heard horror stories about sharing one car; we of course scoff at these comments.  We usually get on quite famously.  Both of us are easy going and accommodating.

This has been our first week, so far so good.  

 Of course there has been some increase in the backseat driving (even though she sits in the front) of she, who shall be nameless.  I have taken her kindly given advice by asking her to sit in the back in order to comply with her “back seat driving expertise”.  She has graciously refused.

I have offered to let her drive, again she has graciously refused.  

Fortunately, I have mastered the art of selective deafness, a trait that has served me well over the years.  It has kept us married. She gets to make “requests”, and I get to ignore them.  A good arrangement all around.
We also have different tastes as to what should be on the radio.  She prefers the radio to be off, or if forced to listen, she chooses country music.

I like the radio on at all times, and while I enjoy country music, I like old radio programs like “The Shadow”, “Jack Benny”, “Burns and Allen”, and morning drive shows that have “schtick”.  For those ignorant of the term, “schtick” refers to comedy or humorous banter.

We bicker back and forth about choices on the radio.  The previous deal was I could listen to my stations  when she wasn't with me.  That deal hasn't held up so well now.

We have had some scheduling issues now that we are constantly driving together.  No more errands for her on her day off, no more shopping for food by herself and no more splitting up to go our separate ways on the weekend. 

We are waiting to see how it all turns out. Can we survive with one car without seeking divorce lawyers?
I am hedging my bets and watching the car ads.