I saw a bumper sticker on a car last week that was pretty funny. It said, “If I give you a straw will
you go suck the joy out of someone else’s life.” It reminded me of a time in my
life when I had a really nice car… but a really hard life. It also reminded me
of how I should live my life.
I was only 17 years old and living on my own in Fallbrook, California. After school I worked at a gas station out in the boonies on the corner of Hwy 76 and 395. I learned a lot about cars working there and since it was 1973 there were a lot of nice cars coming through the station. I saw Camaro’s, Mustangs, Dusters, Super Bee’s, and this one really cool Plymouth Road Runner that had a “For Sale” sign on it. I talked to the young Marine that owned it and he explained that he was being shipped overseas and needed to sell it fast. I made him an offer and later that day I was the proud owner of a metallic gold Road Runner with a 4-speed on the floor, chrome Cragar rims, and big Micky Thompson Indy tires. It looked like a race car, but rode like junker. But hey… I figured it might be a great girl magnet.
Truth is, my life was really hard at that time, living on my own, with no parents around. I went hungry a lot, and I was lonely all the time, but that car had one feature that made it stand out. It had a big red bumper sticker that said, “God is Love”. I thought about taking that bumper sticker off (because the kids at school would think I wasn’t cool), but every time I looked at it, it made me feel better and little less lonely, and that my life wasn’t really all that bad. I left that bumper sticker on until I finally sold that car, and as it drove away, I knew I would never be lonely again!
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