“Julian’s New Jaguar (Not)”
I saw a TV ad for the new F-type Jaguar on TV and immediately called Julian. Half-expecting him to say he’s already ordered one, instead I was met by disgruntled silence.
“What?” I asked.
“Aside from the fact that my XK coupe is barely a year old,” he replied in his British chocolate accent, “the F-type is a convertible.”
“So?”
“Convertibles are too open, too exposed.”
“So?”
He sighed. I wasn’t being deliberately obtuse; I genuinely missed his point. I mean, he drives at night and birds only fly in the daytime. Why else would he be so averse to a ragtop Jag?
It took a while, but he finally confessed that he’d been thrown from a pony trap as a child and has preferred enclosed carriages ever since. We’re talking 370-plus years here, but I guess some traumas stay around forever. The funny thing is that I’ve never known this about him. He doesn’t talk about his childhood, so it’s a surprise to be reminded that he had one. So no matter how well you think you know a character, they can still pull a fast one on you.
Faster still, I realized after our conversation that he had looked into the F-type before I could tell him about it. Maybe that’s why I love him best of all. He’s as car crazy as I am!
Vroooom vroooom! ;)
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