This morning while washing the car I started to wonder if I had become the thing I used to hate; the cliched suburban family guy, washing his car on Saturday morning. Well there I was, so I suppose I have! If you see what I mean.
"This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife."
Not that there's anything wrong with my beautiful house or beautiful wife or for that matter my beautiful kids. Some parts of the cliche make up for the others.
I wrote a song years ago - one of the many could've been hit singles - with a chorus that went something like: "I guess I'll get married some day, live someone else's idea of life." In fact it was exactly like that.
How do you know which bits of your life are what you planned and which bits just happen. I guess that's an easy question if you have a plan. Note to self - get a plan.
Naturally enough washing the car brought on thoughts of obeying rules and social justice.
What with the drought and water restrictions, we have been washing the car using a bucket (as per the law) for the last couple (?) of years. As soon as the restrictions were changed and it was decreed that car washing could be performed using a hose with a trigger nozzle, off we went to buy said nozzle.
So I'm thinking about all the people who carried on washing their cars with their good old fashioned hoses. Their story often being that they just don't give a shit or reckon they can use less water with a hose than a bucket. Well too bad! Work out how to use a bucket with less water! Maybe they could settle for a little worse a washing job. Is it more important to have your own car as shiny as possible or to save a bit of water for everyone? Is it always the same people who don't care about saving water for others who whinge about "paying taxes to support those bludgers who don't want to work and bla, bla, bla, bla"?
Saw these two guys washing their cars with a hose before the laws changed. Typical!
Are they the same racist, narrow minded bigots who think it's patriotic to drape themselves in the Australian flag and go out looking to beat up/annoy/harass those who are not exactly like themselves? Are they the ones with the sticker on the back window proclaiming "Real Aussies drive utes" or the stars of the Southern Cross or that great classic "love it or leave" or the charming young mother I saw driving her family Torago with the insightful "Speak English or die" bumper sticker? Oh, her lucky, lucky kids.
Have I gone too far, have I drawn too long a bow? Probably, but car washing does make you think doesn't it?!
For the record, real Aussies drive small Japanese cars, were often born overseas and eat quiche... hang on, is that real men? I can't remember.
