I hate to share

I'm obviously in a "do as I say not as I do" situation when it comes to that declaration and setting a good example for my kids but there it is. I'm most keenly aware of this kindergarten-failing attitude when it comes to my car.

Some background: I was born and raised in Montréal. A city where the public transit system was so good and the parking situation was so bad that you were a "maudite imbécile" if you got you drivers licence. So I didn't. Fast forward to a move to Ottawa. A city where rush hour buses come every 30 minutes and if you live out of town you have to bike to the nearest bus stop. Luckily we lived downtown. But as we became more and more settled, we found ourselves further and further away from decent public transit. The day that broke the camel's back? The time I took the kids on the bus to church. It was a 45 minute drive straight out of Dante's Inferno. I'm not kidding. All that was missing was a weeping harpy... wait, I guess I'd count there. If we'd driven, it would have taken all of 10 minutes. If we hit all the red lights on the way.

Shortly after all that I got my drivers licence. But now there's another problem. Five people 1 minivan = chaos. We've got groceries to do, ballet and hockey to attend, work to get to... it's a juggling act. Scott's usually kind enough to take his motorcycle to work on nice days but needs the car when it's crappy. The dentist doesn't take kindly to cancelling an appointment because it's raining outside. They still make you pay the cancellation fee. There have been times when I've taken a taxi to work because Scott or Elliott has a hockey game. I get paid $8/hr for 2 hours work and the cab costs $25. You do the math.

And of course with Scott's salary being the only real one coming into the house there's no question of getting another car. Unless it was a gift. And even then we couldn't afford to insure it.
So we share. I try to be big about it as I wave goodbye to my only mode of transportation as it drives away on those shitty days but all I want to do is stamp my feet like a toddler and scream "it's not fair!". Who said being an adult would be "really cool because you can do whatever you want"? Oh yeah, that was me 30 years ago. Poop.

kx