The competition

Paul has been dreaming of owning a Corvette convertible. Mid-life crisis vehicle?? He says not, that he's always wanted one. (Yeah...that's what they ALL say!) But, I digress...

Hearing him talk about sports cars with such excitement made me really want him to get one, so I guess I've sort of encouraged his fantasy. He was at the dealership, servicing his current (and very practical) vehicle last week. There on the showroom floor, a recent trade in, was a candy-apple red, Corvette convertible.

Feeling less than satisfied that the dealer was accurately reporting the car's value, he decided to do some on-line comparison. Naturally, this led to the discovery of several other Corvette convertible for sale in his local area. He went to see one today, taking along a relative who really knows his sports cars. The blue metallic, with leather interior (and some spiffy upgrades) was in pristine condition. The seller let Paul test-drive the vehicle. Just like the owner of the pet store rushes to get that cute puppy into your hands, knowing that you'll then be emotionally attached, I suspect the seller knew that a test drive was all it would take to reel in his potential buyer.

It used to be that phrases like, "I can't get this smile off my face" and "She's really sweet...just beautiful...AWESOME" were reserved for ME!! Now...well DAMN, he's in love with a car!!

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little for entertainment value, but this is the closest thing to competition I've faced since we started dating. I've begun thinking all the women I know, for whom the most critical consideration when evaluating a suitor is, "What kind of car does he drive?" If Paul gets this car, will all these pampered beauties be hitting on him? Well crap...I don't need that!! I found him first and I like him fine in his practical family car!!

He said he'll need to talk to the bank on Tuesday, run the numbers and determine if the purchase is practical. I told him that there was no way to rationalize that purchasing an expensive sports car was a "practical" decision. (He'll have to garage it in the winter. That means two cars to maintain, insure and pay taxes on.) He could only determine if the purchase was "feasible" and if he was willing to sacrifice in other areas in order to make it work.

Do I think he should buy the car? I'm torn. I'm very practical. (Okay...boring!) I can't really relate to the desire to spend such a huge amount of money on something just for the image and excitement it can supply. When I recently upgraded my used vehicle to one with less mileage, I thought it was silly of me to refuse to consider anything dark green, because I didn't want to replace my car with one of the same color. How can I relate to spending so much money on a fair-weather vehicle that goes faster than you can legally drive it?? Not to mention what a convertible would do to my hair!! But when he talks about it, he sounds like a kid in a toy store. He gets all excited and I like to hear him sound that happy. I want him to be that happy. He SHOULD be that happy.

So...I'll be content with whatever he decides to do. My hair may never recover, but we would look awfully sexy tooling around in a flashy sports car convertible. I guess I could learn to overlook the impracticality. Maybe a little irrational excitement is a GOOD thing!

I'll keep you posted!