The really good thing about having Rob live in our house was that he
could drive a car which is something my brother and I were legally
prohibited from doing by reason of age discrimination. There is
nothing more damaging to the dignity of a wanna-be player then to
show up at the party, dance or shindig being dropped off by one's
mother. The shame and the horror of proving to the world that you
were not old enough to drive and not cool enough to have a older
brother, sister or friend to ferry you about. When people wax
nostalgic for the freedom of youth forget the feeling of having to
sit around and wait for a ride. If I were to relive my youth I would
want more money and a car or no dice. If I am presented with the
actual opportunity to relive my youth I may back off these demands.
Rob had another great benefit besides being recognized by the state
for his ability to operate a motor vehicle, he had virtually no
social life. This was in large part because he had moved into a new
small town at the exact wrong time to try and make new friends and
the night life would need to be hit with a defibrillator to get back
to dead. The upshot of all that was that he was available most night
to take us somewhere and then at the end of the night be there to
pick us back up again. He wasn't scoping out the joint as he rolled
up seeing if it looked like a boy/girl party he wasn't double
checking to see if the parents I firmly swore were there to chaperon were actually there. It was a very one sided situation though and
there were many times that Rob would get sassy about having to drive
my friends and I around – and then he would, more often than not,
take us any way. It was one night when he had driven two of my
friends and I to the medium sized bigger city 18 miles to the north
to watch a movie at the dollar theater, that my girlfriend had
breakdown and made for a exciting night for all involved.
