My route to campus is familiar to me. I’ve traversed it enough to notice many details in the surroundings. One thing that stuck out to me about four years ago was a bumper sticker on a car parked in a driveway. The sticker read: “My Next Car Will Be Domestic” (it was on an import). From the time I first saw that sticker I regularly checked that driveway, waiting for the day the car was replaced by another car. Will it be a domestic car or an import?
A few weeks ago as I walked to campus I glanced at that driveway to check for a new car (after years of doing so it has become a habit, I didn’t even think about it). But this day was not like other days. A shiny new car was in the driveway. I spotted it when I was too far away to identify the manufacturer, so the anticipation grew as I walked closer. Domestic or import?
I like it when someone backs up a promise. Even little things. So when I saw that the new car was a Ford Fiesta it made me smile. (Even if many of them are assembled outside of the US, I still think of Fords as domestic cars.) Now that the car has continued to appear in the driveway over the past couple of weeks in lieu of the import with the sticker I feel confident that it belongs to the same person.
To the mystery person with the new Fiesta: At least one person noticed (and appreciated) that you honored your bumper sticker promise.
