Nature of Logic and Perception

When I was sixteen, I got my first car. It was a 1961 Ford Falcon Station Wagon. It cost me all of $50. I was mobile and I didn't care that is was not new or sporty. I thought it would make me cool. Now we are talking about the late 60's. Things were very turbulent but that is not what I was thinking about. We lived in Southern California and we go to the beach on the weekends and on holidays. My sister and I would go to the beach and along the way pick up hitchhikers. Can you imagine? Boys and girls with their beach paraphernalia and surfboards sticking out the back of my station wagon, we were cool. That was then but today we wouldn't do that. We would think about mass murders, rapists and kidnappers. Were we dumb then, I don't think so. We didn't have to worry about it as much as we do now. Or we just didn't think about it.

We didn't think that we could get in trouble, but we did. We would go to parties without our parents knowing about it. We thought we were smart because we break in to our own house. Our parents went to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. One time when I was 17 or 18 yrs old, I picked up a hitchhiker who was going into Los Angeles. I learned a great lesson. This hitchhiker got so angry at the traffic and the lady who was tailgating me that he threw a grapefruit at her windshield. Thank goodness I didn't have anything heavier in my car. Well, some hours I received a call from the LAPD about my hit and run accident. I was so scared that the first time I hung up. They call me back, I explained what happen, and I received a warning. My critical thinking has changed a great deal since that time.

When I was about 25 yrs old, I purchased my very own first used car. I knew nothing about taking care of cars. I was in California and my parents were in Illinois. (A story for another day) I drove that thing everywhere. Maintenance? I didn't know anything about maintenance. The engine started smoking, the oil gauge went on, and I put oil in the car. The engine had frozen and I had a cracked rod. It was $900 and a loan from my Dad that saved me on that occasion. I learned a very hard and expensive lesson. But what did it really teach me?

I learned that it is not a good idea to pick up hitchhikers. I also learned to take care of my car with regular maintenance. I went to the school of 2 by 4's because you had to get my attention for me to listen. What has this all to do with