.

너는 지금 직장 해고되면 대책이 없잖아.

정말 몇 년간 단 한번도 개념글 안쓰고….

나도 이공계인데, 처음부터 글을 잘 쓴게 아니야.

개념글들을 쓰다보니, 실력이 늘어난 것이지….

11장 자동차 중독에 대해 쓴 글인데, 한번 읽어봐라.

11 Auto Addiction

“No one needs a car.”
-Brad Kong

I have lived without a car for five years now and never been happier. I know it is impossible in certain areas or jobs. But, let me tell you what happened to me last twenty years and why I decided to get rid of my car.

The first car I had was a brand new Hyundai Elantra. I bought it in the year of 2000 and had kept it for 13 years. The second car was also a new model of Elantra in 2013. Maybe I bought Hyundai twice since I am from Korea. But, honestly I liked the designs. I kept that one for about 4 years. So, my car ownership had been about for 18 years totally though I rented cars before and after.

My biggest horror was about mechanics. Have you heard of “Mechanics trauma”? Probably not since I made the word. Having horror after horror, I had strange symptom to feel uneasy even with smell of mechanics: You know the mild gas smell from working area. Cars went back with worse condition many times even after spending a chunk of money. I had to squeeze crazily since I had been short of money. Many mechanics replaced original good factory parts with cheap after markets even after $1,500 payment.

I particularly had hard time after my first car reached 10 years old. In 2010, my daughter was born and economic depression came. The store could not make a lot of money, but I had to keep pouring money in it.

I should have replaced my car by then. Monthly payment for a brand new car could be cheaper. For some reasons, I thought it is wise to keep a car with healthy repairing. Honest repairs improving the car condition never really happened throughout my ownership.

I was in college when I bought my first car in 2000. I remember it had been great for about 7 years. The first frustration came after timing belt change. The dealership said they will give me a loaner car and asked me to leave the car for a day. They suggested strangely lower price of $375 though $500 was common for timing belt change. You know what? They did not change it.

After the timing belt change, I was finishing up the college in Buffalo, New York. I planned to move to Chicago to start a new business. I thought I will visit NYC one last time since I got a new timing belt, anyway. After parking my car in Manhattan, it did not start again. I spent so much money for towing, timing belt change and cylinder damage. I had to go back to Buffalo by bus and went back to NYC via plane. I think the total cost was about $3,500.

Horror did not stop there. In fact, it was merely a beginning. Whenever I went to any car related place, I spent money just like nothing. I felt like America consumption starts with a car. Once you have it, you must spend good amount of money somehow and anyhow. Even a low life’s excuse to get money is “gas money”.

I explained more details in chapter 13, but I live in a walkable neighborhood now. Though one of our neighbors, Jim had lived without a car for 30 years, I thought that it was crazy in the beginning. We all addict to cars to some degrees.

I used to have chronic back pain when I had cars. That is gone for years now after starting walking. And, I am much thinner and notice that I have way more free time as well. It takes time to wash, fill gas into or repair a car. I do not have to visit police station to pay parking tickets, either.

How can a normal citizen be a criminal quickly? I think driving a car makes the chance 10 times higher. Drinking at a bar and coming home is not really a crime. With a car handle in your hands, it is. Some good people can be hit and run criminals as well. They may be bad people or not just good at driving.

I used to rent a car every month right after removing my car. It has become less and less and almost none now. My wife uses Uber whenever she needs it.

When I used to own a store, there was a nice, but poor maintenance guy. He had three daughters and four cars. He had two jobs and his wife worked all the time. But, they had been flat broke. I learned that he eventually lost his house though they had paid a mortgage over 20 years.

If you work to death, but do not see any money, see if your car could be a reason. It is sad to lose a house over a few cars. Humans have lived with a car over 7 million years. One car a person is simply ridiculous.