2A I NOVEMBER 14, 2008 PARK CITIES PEOPLI

BULLETIN FROM THE BUBBLE

The UltimateQu~on:
1( ¥iffivanorN?tTo~ ..... 1 .•

Can buYIng a carthat looks likea den_

--- - _.- --
akeyou Ul1COOt?
-~-- -". ---_. -- ----:-

Hell, what'lQ)f?uklyourtemseljJ, ay.~.

This reader Afraid of losing myself
e-mail might A Very Cool Mom .
appear trivial Over the last few years,
to some. But I've dedlc~ted myself to
to me it was researching the minivan
an SOS from a phenomenon - dissecting
Merritt woman on the it with area women,.occa-
Patterson edge: sionally even with actual
L'rn a Park minivan drivers. My study
Cities mom in in short revealed this: It's a
the market for a new .car,My decision that should not be
husband' wants me to get a entered into lightly, as the,
minivan. I'm afraid it would. long-term impact cannot
be the end of my coolness. be reversed. Once a mini-
What would becoming a van driver, even if eventu-
minivan driver mean for me ally switching to a Porsche
overall? or something later, you will
alwaysbe, at the very l\~ast,a ,
former minivan driver.
The informal study.
started when one of rm dear
friends, a Park Cities resi-
dent, went all minivan out of
nowhere. Though we have
remained close, the vehicle
selection drove a slig It,but
permanent wedge be een
this pal and the rest 0 us in
her social circle. . I get what you're saying -
If you're already mentally
drafting hate mail abo t how
shallow I am, don't strain
yourself on my account.
I'm fully aware of Y0ll!l fee1-
ings about cars not making
the person, blah, blah; bl~.
But unless you are an.hon- '
est minivan driver, or are
close to someone who took
the minivan plunge, you just .
have no idea what you're
talking about.
Dear Very Cool Mom,
Forgive me for reading
between the lines, but I think ,
you love your children, and
you don't mind if the whole
world knows you're a mom,
but you don't want the role
to completely define you.
You still want to be you. The
you who listened to loud
music with your ~lfriends
~n spur-of-the-moment
road trips; the you who had'
guys taking notice at stop-
lights. No need to explain.
,I know you don't want to
cheat on your husband or
go on a wild and crazy par-
tying spree. You just want
people to be able to visual-
ize the super-fun chick you
 once were, and still are deep throw up in your mouth
down inside. a little just to think about
The bottom line is you have yourself driving one?
to decide which of these two . mDuring the days imme-
things is more important: diately after college,while you
practicality or image. Make were dreaming of what the
your decision, embrace it, and funrrehcldm~o~illd~u~
never look back. once picture yourself in a mini-
. With all due respect, van?
I don't' think hip, single IIIs the convenience of the
women without children remote control sliding door
really ever purchase mini- more importantthan your soul?
vans, which is pretty much a If; after thorough analysis
slam dunk argument on the of your answers, you must
image side, but for the sake get a minivan for reasons
of a fair presentation, let's I cannot even fathom, go
consider all the angles with, . dark. Get a black one. The
four fundamental questions. more non-descript you can
1m Can you listen to any make it, the better. And
kind of music ili it with- never, ever apply one of
out feeling weird? Really, those decals with a family'
can you throw in your Def of stick people and all your
Leppard CD, pound on the kids' names on it, because
steering wheel, and drum on frankly, if you get a mini-
the dash in a car that looks van, you're just one peel
like a den? and stick' away from that.
iIlll When you were a Truly Yours,
teen, what would you have Merritt
thought of the minivan idea,
and would it have made you