The Open Road

Surely, the day you buy a new car from Payne, the first thing you think about is driving that thing as fast as you can down Memorial Blvd.

Americans in particular romanticize the car-owning experience - you know the cliche about the wind in your hair and the open road? Owning your own car is associated with freedom - the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want. And we all know how much Americans love their freedom.

Imagine this: heading south for the beach in your new Camaro, going as fast as you can. No one will get in your way!

Except you can only go 50 miles per hour, tops, on Memorial Blvd. And you've only made it to Greenbrier before a police officer stops you. Even in the mightiest of sports cars, you still have to stop when the light turns red and observe all speed limits.

For those of us who live in Nashville, it's almost unfair to live in the city when Chevrolet makes cars like the Camaro. I just moved one across the lot yesterday, and even while only going 8 miles per hour during all of two minutes, it was probably the best experience behind the wheel I've ever had.

So that brings me to another part of car maintenance - Enjoy it in every way you can! Take your car to interstate if you like to drive fast. Go for a drive with no destination in mind. Listen to the radio, for goodness sakes!

While we Americans love our freedom, it's true that we also work and stress ourselves way too much (apparently we have one of the longest work weeks of any industrialized coutry). Your automobile is not just sitting in your driveway to take you from point A to B; it's there for you to have fun with. If you've bought the right car, then you will want to have fun with it whenever you can. And if you've bought a Chevy car in the past couple of years, odds are you have great fuel economy and can afford to drive for no reason.

You made an investment in your car, and it's time you got something out of it besides the morning commute.

Just try not to get a ticket!


**Image by LimaFoxtrot**