Dear New Driver

Dear New Driver,

As much as Disney and Pixar want you to think your car has a personality, I hate to tell you this, but it doesn’t. You can name it. You can put eyelashes on it. You can put a girdle in the front of it or decorate it with a tail on the back. You can call it by a name all day long, but your car does not have a personality. I’m so sorry. I apologize from the bottom of my heart that you have a friend you think is real and legit but it’s not.

Let me tell you this: since your car does not have a personality, it takes on your personality. When you hop in the car, if you are happy, your car is going to be happy. If you are sad, your car is going to be sad. If you are angry, your car is going to be angry. It’s probably going to be blasting through traffic, flying around people, completely annoyed. If you are in a hurry, your car is going to be fast. It didn’t turn into a sports car overnight. It’s not a Camaro. But you put that pedal to the metal and press it down because you need to get somewhere on time.

Just because you’re a new driver and you can drive does not mean you have to drive. When you are in a hurry or distracted, it’s okay to ask your parents to drive you where you need to go. Tell them, “I’m in a really big hurry, and I don’t want my car to be in a hurry,” or “I’m very upset right now. I’m afraid I won’t be able to drive through my tears,” or “I won’t be able to drive without anger.”

If you recognize your car takes on your personality, then you can stop it. You can say, “It’s not okay to drive an angry car around town because that could hurt people.” There are consequences to driving your car when you are emotional. When your car is angry, you can end up in a wreck by hitting another car or hitting someone walking on the sidewalk. Wouldn’t that be awful? That is horrible. You would have to live with it.

We don’t want to do that. We want to make sure we realize our car does not have a personality—but it takes on ours.