Minivan Meltdown

So, today, beleaguered auto-maker, Toyota, recalled more than half-a-million Sienna minivans due to a potentially faulty cable issue. My husband owns a Prius (which I love) and I sort of feel like poor Toyota is like the former prom king who grows up, gets fat and nobody wants to date them anymore. Are their glory days over?


Can I just say, I drive a mini-van and I love it. I never thought I'd say such a thing and I admit I got a little teary when my husband and I decided to trade my sporty little red Accord in for my Odyssey. But nearly six years later, I can honestly say, it's the best car I've ever owned. And just to prove I'm not ashamed of my mom-ified set of wheels, my brother gave me  a t-shirt that states, "I'm too sexy for my minivan." I often wear it to the gym with pride.


While I love my mommy-mobile, I can't say the same for everyone else on the road. Today, in fact, I was parked outside of Old Navy here in suburban Atlanta and when I returned to my car, some lovely passerby had left a hastily scribbled note on my windshield that read:


"You give mini-van drivers a bad name! Learn how to park or buy a smaller car! I couldn't get in my car thru the driver's side b/c of you! Had to crawl through. You are a jerk!!!"


After reading this heart-warming note, I checked to see if I was, in fact, badly parked. Lo and behold, not only was I aligned straight, my wheels were not even touching the line on either side. I have no idea what this person was talking about and perhaps they parked closely on my side and were unable to get into their own car after I arrived. Or maybe they were just having an exceedingly bad day and decided to take it out on a random mommy driver.


In either case, the note shook me up slightly and reminded me the importance and blessing of cutting people slack. I mean, there are earthquakes going on almost daily now, teens are becoming fatal victims to schoolyard bullies, volcanos are erupting, people are losing their jobs and pensions, etc, etc.


So, unless your life is just so horrendously awful, learn from this stranger's behavior and please think twice before lashing out over something as meaningless as a badly parked car. I mean, life IS short. Perhaps mouthing off to me gave this person a little lift or somehow improved their day, but I doubt it. More likely, this is an angry individual who is unhappy and couldn't help but try to bring someone else down with them.


Or, maybe they were ticked off that their Sienna was just recalled.


(for more information on that recall, go to  www.toyota.com/recall)