My Daily Driver



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by Mike Furtado
Copyright (c), 2003, My Daily Driver -- All Rights Reserved

I was driving my car the other day and I pulled into my favorite drive-thru, Dunkin' Donuts. I suppose coffee is my biggest vice, as I find it nearly impossible to pass a Dunkin' Donuts without stopping for one. And a twenty-four ounce "Great One" at that! Expecting to hear the usual crackling voice magically emanate from the giant back-lit menu ask "welcome to Dunkin' Donuts, may I help you?" I was somewhat taken by surprise when I heard "A Great One with extra cream and extra sugar, anything else?" It took me a moment to reassure myself that I had not yet actually given that order, even though it was in fact the order I was about to give. I hesitantly replied "That's all, thank you." "Pull up to the window." said the familiar crackling static voice.

I pulled my 440 GTX forward slowly, feeling confused at what had just taken place. I considered the position of the menu and speaker in relation to the window and knew that anyone inside could not have seen me or my car before I negotiated the white lined path winding around from the back of the building. The waitress came to the window, handed me the cup of coffee that I hadn't actually ordered, but was exactly what I wanted. "That'll be a dollar ninety two please." While I handed her my two dollars, I was compelled to ask, "How did you know what my order would be?" She answered, "When I turn on the speaker, we can all tell it's that big orange car by the sound of the engine. No other car sounds like that through the speaker. And you always place the same order." She handed me my eight cents change, I thanked her and drove off.

I headed down the road toward my destination, no longer feeling confused, I now felt a sense of satisfaction. I listened to the distinctive rumble of my 440 turning a cool 2800 RPM. I love that sound so much it makes my heart race, even at 40 miles per hour. I enjoyed the recognition I had received at a place that I had always felt quite anonymous. Just a few miles down the road I stopped at a traffic signal. The Lexus in the lane next to be blew his horn and I turned to look. He gave a big smile and a "thumbs up". I returned the universally understood thumbs up signal along with my own wide grin. When the signal changed, I goosed the 440 a bit and gave him a good tire chirp. I was having fun today on what would have normally been a fairly boring drive.

Later that evening on the journey home several cars that I passed blew their horns and waved. It's not that these encounters had never happened to me before, but they seemed that much sweeter on the heels of my recognition at Dunkin' Donuts earlier that day. When I arrived at home and exited my vehicle a young man approached from across the street. "Man, that's a nice car!" "Thanks!" I replied. We had a few minutes of chat in which this stranger asked me twenty questions about my car while he circled it several times, looking at every little detail. He told me how every time he sees my car driving through the neighborhood he wonders who drives a car like that. He had been waiting for the opportunity to meet me.

What am I, a "Star"? Nope just a guy who's lucky enough to drive a cool car!

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