#SoCS Memorable trips in this little car

Trips in this little car may soon become fond memories only. I mean with the price of fuel rumoured to double within the next two months, who can afford to go cruising up and down the coast the way we used to do? The past two years in almost perpetual lockdown already put paid to most of our travelling adventures. These days our travels mostly consist of trips to the shopping mall and the doctor’s offices. And the beach. Yes, these days, with the crimes soaring and old age creeping up, we rarely walk to the beach – we go by car.

I bought this little car yonks ago to travel to and from work on the busy highways of Gauteng. When I retired five years later Pandosie came with me to live in this little coastal town. Yes, it has a name – a blend of Panda and Dosie (a little box in Afrikaans) and it’s regarded to be part of the family. And still my favourite mode of transport. Smooth as silk and fast as lightning it zips through heavy traffic relying on muscle memory (I tell my daughter) to play hopscotch around the numerous potholes. A car with muscle, yes.

On our latest trip to the mall, the driver of the humongous truck parked next to us gets out of his vehicle to take a good look at Pandosie. “Such a cu-u-ute little car!” he says, “they really make cute little cars these days”. When I promptly inform him that the car is a 2008 model, therefore 14 years old, he looks at me in total disbelief. Who drives such old cars these days? Panda owners do and I am used to this reaction.

We had even more fun on a previous trip to the same shopping mall when by some coincidence we parked right next to another Panda 100 HP. The same model year I think. “Oh look at those little Pandas on steroids!” says a young passerby. “And the windgat (show-off, windbag) old aunty driving it,” says his mate.

On our way home, we are waiting for the traffic light to turn green when a beggar accepts a banana from an even older old aunty in the really small car (not the same make) ahead of us. He promptly drops the banana peel on the blacktop right in front of Pandosie. And Pandosie’s windgat driver.

“No! Do not mess on the road,” I say, “pick up the peel and bring it here. Yes, you, pick it up!”

He looks at the old aunty with the untamed grey hair poking her head through the window of the cu-u-ute little muscle car on steroids. Then he meekly picks up the peel and brings it over to the car where I put it in a plastic bag.

You simply do not mess with Panda drivers.

Linda said: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “trip.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

To see the rules for this weekly challenge and all the entries for Saturday 12 March 2022, visit Linda G Hill our gracious host for these challenges, where you will also find links to blogs added by other participants.

To see all my SoCS entries on this website, follow this link.