Metaphor

Your a classic car enthusiast. You have always loved them and seen them in the periphery of your vision but you never had the gumption to get one and take on what it is to own one. One day you are driving down the street and you see one poking its grill out of a garage and you are inspired. It looks a bit dusty but underneath the dust is one of those beautiful pieces of steel and chrome and rubber that makes your heart skip a beat. It was made in the heyday of the automobile when bigger was better and beauty was prised over aerodynamics. The symmetry and style exude class like nothing else on the road today so you stop your car and walk your way up the steps of the front porch to the door of the house.

There is a well worn brass handle and an ornate knocker and for a minute you think about hopping back into your car and driving away because you already have a car and it gets you from A to B which is what a car is supposed to do but there is something that holds you at the entry. With trepidation you reach out for the knocker and lift it ever so gently amazed by the weight of the thing in your hands and you let it fall.

Knock

Knock

Knock

Then silence.

After a seemingly extraordinary amount of time your hear a stirring from within and a gray haired old man opens the door a crack and says "who is it?" You can see his stern gaze from within.

"Hello. I'm your neighbor from around the corner and I noticed that beautiful old car in your garage and I was wondering if you would like to talk about it?"

At the mention of the old auto the old mans face changed and he threw the door open and thrust out his hand for a shake. "Come in, come in I always have time to talk about my wonderful car." The twinkle in his eyes revealed a tremendous pride and love for this thing.

He ushers you in and you spend the next hour talking to him about all sorts of stuff but mostly his prized car.

You explain to him of your sincere interest and you then take a walk out to the garage and all of a sudden you are right next to it and it is amazing. It was definitely taken care of as you already knew from your conversation before but the layer of dust on it indicates that it had not been used as of late. The old man then tells you that it has been hard for him as of late to use it but opens the door and tells you to go ahead and start it. As you slide into the well worn leather that old car smell fills your senses as you turn the ornate key and the old thing grumbles to life.

WOW! What a sound it makes! Nothing on four wheels today has that deep rumble that echoes in the old garage and you are sold. You spend the next couple of months visiting the old man and his car and grow to love it and eventually he agrees to hand the keys over to you.

The day comes to take it out for the first time and your heart is about to leap from your chest. You had dusted it off and kicked the tires and sat in the drivers seat for the first time with the intention of driving it somewhere. You turn the keys again and it comes to life with the gentle touch of a lover you ease the car into drive and it moves! Oh what a thrill! You feel like royalty driving such a magnificent automobile as you idle your way to the road at the end of the driveway and as you turn onto the road ahead and step on the gas there is no response! The car just remains in idle. You tap the accelerator again and again no response. You park the car and go back to the gentle old and ask him what is going on?

He sheepishly looks up and tells you that's all it can do.

Its been that way for so long that he doesn't even know how to get it to move any faster and asks "Why do you want it to go any faster? It's fine the way it is. Just look at how beautiful it is!"

"Because you just can't travel todays roads at that speed" I regretfully say.