car raze i was a human car on a carless highway. i was looking at the marks other cars had made. a slow rain came to kiss my face. i couldn't see the accelerator, but as i surrendered to my fear i picked up speed until i was flying more than driving, until the kisses were coming fast and hard and i thought i could see what i was going to be. way down the highway i saw another me. 140606 ... FauxGrr Recently, I decided to help a struggling family by giving my old car to their 16-year-old daughter after I bought a used car for myself. When her parents offered to pay me, I couldn't bring myself to accept money from a family I knew was facing financial hardship. Someone close to me criticized this decision, suggesting my kindness makes me a 'sucker.' As much as that hurt, I disagree. It's a reflection of who I am and the world I want to live in. 250216 ... raze i couldn't agree with you more. i mean, that's a life-changing gesture right there. i hope the good feeling of making a difference in someone's life outweighs the wrongheaded criticism of your kindness. and if being a thoughtful person makes you a sucker, well ... i'd rather be a lollipop than a jawbreaker any day. 250216 ... epitome of incomprehensibility I described my parents' car as "cute." Is that weird? But "Sparky" is small and light blue, and its headlights are like a puppy's eyes. Japanese, not too anime, just droll and wide-eyed. ... FauxGrr: yes, that person was wrong. Being generous isn't the same as being gullible. Even if they were just calling you irrational, they're still wrong, wrong, wrong. It's more rational to be generous than not, to be kind to people and other animals. I mean, there could be times when it wouldn't be rational to give something away, like if your unhappiness in losing it would be more than someone else's happiness in getting it. Or if the receiver came from a family or culture where everything has to feel "earned" (the "we don't accept handouts" mentality, though there's always something you can point out as being unearned - "Sir, did you pay for that air you're breathing? I think not!"). But it doesn't seem like either of these applies. In short, I agree with raze, and good on you for being helpful! 250218 ... e_o_i ...Also, I didn't mean to suggest that whole cultures (as in whole countries or language groups) have the "I don't accept handouts" attitude. But there might be some communities where a larger number of people think or say this. Stereotypically, maybe rural New England, like where my dad's from? Though again, not everybody. It seems a lot of folks there too had a "give and let give" attitude, from what I've read from my grandmother's journals about living in small-town Maine in the 1960s. And cars were useful there, to bring this back on-topic, though my dad these days is all, "You don't NEED to learn to drive" (to me). "Cars are not the future." But it might be a useful skill to learn. I just don't have the money right now. 250218 ... e_o_i (I have unnecessary commas and hyphens, though. Grr. E.g. "on topic" only needs a line if it's used as an adjective before a noun. I TEACH people this shit.) 250218 what's it to you? who go blather from