The Good, The Bad, and The Filthy

Today was the first time I've had a chance to check out Katie's new Jeep in the daylight. The good news is that it starts good, it's not leaking any oil, and it runs good. It's leaking some transmission fluid around the seals, but either I can stop it with that stuff that plumps up old cracked seals, or I can take it apart, clean it off and put it back on with new seals.

Either way...it's good.

The bad news, besides the leaky seal, is that men are pigs. And really, that's the bad news for the totality of humanity, not just for my household. Although I've known a few fastidious men, in general, their standards for a tolerable amount of cleanliness are pretty low. This isn't a picture of Katie's filthy car, but it's an excellent metaphor. This Jeep is filthy in that impressive way that cars are filthy when there's been 20 years worth of filth collected on the inside. I'm not sure if any of you know this, but the whole world can be your ashtray if you want it to be. There's tobacco and cigarette butts overflowing the ashtray, the cup holder, the map holder, and that little box that sits between the seats for your change, cell phone and sunglasses to sit in. Luckily, he removed the old fast food wrappers before he handed it over to us, but judging from the ash situation, I'm guessing he was like that guy who got lost in the blizzard and survived for two weeks eating the old fast food residue off his car floor.

Katie's on a mission to clean it up, which has it's own certain level of irony if you've ever seen her room, but it really what this Jeep needs to be turned inside out and beaten with a rug beater until the dirt and ashes stop flying out of it.

Harumph! For a second there, I was channeling my mother. "And another thing, about these kids today and their loud music..."