“Mercedez & Me” Quandary

I have to share with you my dilemma lately [funny but difficult to decide, please read the letter that my 19-years old son wrote, 827 words of persuasion].  Here’s the background story:  Remember the journal entry about the “Overprotection=Misplaced Anger”  read it here if you missed it . Brent is the child that I trained to be more independent, un-pampered, mentally strong, humble, carefree [example: he dropped his pacifier and we don’t even sterilize or boil it anymore].  He is a sophomore in the local university – UT [University of Texas] which is just a 30 minutes drive from my house.  This 2nd year is an exciting year for him because he will be getting his own unfurnished apartment unlike during the freshman year when he was in a semi-dorm apartment.   So many changes going on lately including a choice of which car to drive. When my 4’ 9”  daughter was about to get a car, I bought her a Chevy Colorado V8 pickup truck and when she went to college that truck becomes her mode of transportation [even until now]. Reason for the pickup truck is bigger = safer [seriously].   She drives to San Antonio from Round Rock [Texas] frequently [90 miles at 80mph] and as part of a good countermeasure – having a bigger and sturdier car, this gave us a “somewhat” better peace of my mind.  The strategy of having a bigger car works.  She had two near misses in 3 years and imagining her with the smaller car, it could have been a different outcome.  In 2013, we needed a 4th car since this 16 years old was given a license to drive in Texas. I opted for a 2nd Mercedes ML 350. The real objective [self] is when Brent needed to bring a car to UT, he will drive the old 2002 Yukon SUV [which is bigger and taller] and I will be using the old ML.  Fair enough that plan was suppose to happen until yesterday when I received a letter of intention from him. 

Now I have to think for a better choice.

Original Plan: [In this order]
A. Wife – 2013 ML350
B. Husband – 2006 ML350
C. Daughter – 2009 Colorado Pickup Truck
D. Son – 2002 Yukon

The situation is a dilemma to me because of the following reasons:
1. I already told my oldest daughter, “No, you can’t have the ML”. I don’t want my kids to grow “big headed” driving expensive cars and showing off.  I don’t even use those cars for work.
2. I don’t want to say “no” to a hard working child either who is really doing good in school and also I trained him to be who he is now – persuasive, honest, hard working, patient, silent person, humble, respectful.

I am aware that to some people this is a silly issue.  But remember, I am an over-analyzer  and psychoanalyze every decision I make.  The question now is which child I don’t want to offend?

Hmmm.  Ok, enough of this silliness.  I’m just sharing you these stuff, I really have nothing to share.

Here’s some journals I wrote about Brent that I wrote a while ago: https://blindcaveman.wordpress.com/page/2/?s=brent . Don’t miss the you tube video of this guy. Here’s my favorite:  Man in the Mirror. This video was taken in March of 2003 when the 2002 Yukon truck.  Brent was only 7 years old [@First Grade]. He is now 19.

15 minutes later….
Oh, before I go, after watching the video lately, now I know the answer to this dilemma.  Brent gets to drive the car that used to pick him up in the first grade.  How brilliant and historic will that be!  Will see if this works.

Mercedez & Me [Brent A.]

Since the invention of the first steam powered auto-mobile in 1768 by one Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, man has come a long way thanks to the power automobiles had bestowed. No longer was man defined by the limitations of the reach of his arms or the breadth of his stride. Cars have multiplied man’s potential and are an essential tool to be utilized to any aspiring young teen college student. There are a myriad of reasons why the Mercedes-Benz should accompany me on my journey into adulthood instead of the GMC Yukon.

I, Brent A, received my driver’s license on the 21^st of December 2012. My official driving career is not even a mere three years old! Out of these short three years of driving, 99 times out of 100, every time I drove which car was I driving? The Mercedes-Benz ML350 2006. NOT the Yukon. For three years I had woken up, ate breakfast, and hopped into the silver automobile and drove to school or to tennis practice or to a friend’s house. Whenever I had tasks to complete, chores to accomplish, a to-do list to finish, the Mercedes-Benz ML350 was my faithful companion and over the past three years we had gotten to know each other very well.

Now imagine you are a professional doubles tennis player and you and your partner have been playing together for years and years and are esteemed champions in the eyes of the whole world. Because you both had been working together for so long, you get to understand and complement each other and on the court you are no longer two separate people but one harmonious unified being. Now imagine if suddenly your long-time partner is ripped apart from you and a rookie replacement is thrust upon you. Yeah sure the rookie may get the job done, you may be able to survive, BUT the chemistry is not there, the harmony and unification is absent, and you will solely be surviving and NOT thriving.

This is exactly the scenario I wish to avoid by having the Yukon shoved onto me. My driving experience with Yukon is EXTREMELY limited and you cannot deny that driving the Yukon is a completely different experience from driving the Mercedes. I am not familiar with the dimensions of the Yukon, I am not familiar with the handling of the Yukon. If I were to take the Yukon, not only will I be forced to adapt to such a foreign automobile I would also be forced to adapt in the busy city of Austin which is reported as the 8^th highest ranking city in the nation for worst traffic by forbes.com. If I am expected to drive at a competent level that Forbes names one of the worst places to drive I believe it would be extremely important for me and my safety to take a vehicle that I am comfortable with you surely would agree?

One of your biggest reasons for my taking the Yukon instead of the Mercedes is because you claim that I would be safer in the large Yukon. However, I would argue that in reality the opposite is true! My chances for being in an accident in Austin increases dramatically in the Yukon. I do not possess the experience or comfortability or familiarity necessary in order to drive the Yukon effectively in the busy traffic-prone city that is Austin, Texas. In addition to my personal unfamiliarity with the vehicle, the Yukon also has an extremely unsafe physical history. If you would remember, the yukon’s brakes were deemed unsafe and un-drivable. I do NOT want to drive a car of that standard around Austin. On the other hand, the Mercedes-Benz ML350 has never had any issues to that degree of gravity and in my three years of driving it I have never personally had an issue with the car. The Mercedes is a car that I would truly put my trust in to keep my child safe, the cheap GMC Yukon is not.

The United States of America prides itself on its investment in the future of America: its children. Do your part in serving America by investing in me by giving me the Mercedes-Benz to drive in the Fall 2015-Spring 2016 semester at the University of Texas at Austin. My father once taught me that we only have one life-time to live on this earth and to not waste it with regrets. He taught me to eliminate any “should’ve could’ve would’ve” moments in my life. He taught me to live without anxiety. He taught me that when I wanted something I shouldn’t ask for it but that I should go out and get it. I will be taking the Mercedes-Benz ML350 to school because this is something I want and I know that it is the right decision and I hope you would understand and continue to support me on my journey in this life and the next.

Please don’t psychoanalyze my choice of cars. I opted for German cars as a gift to my wife and beside – I have to spend some of my hard earned dollars on something, I’ve done a good job in my financial planning. Read more here: https://blindcaveman.wordpress.com/tag/finance/