I spent a few hours watching my boyfriend "play" with his car today.  Actually he was fixing it---and more specifically, he was fixing the switch that turns on the heater.  Usually I don't watch him because I get bored out of my mind, but we thought it would allow us to have some time to talk together which we haven't been getting lately.  I think many women could relate to how boring it is to watch someone fiddle w/ their car(that's a pretty anti-feminist statement isn't it?).  Anyway, the reason I usually get so bored is that I just don't understand the inner workings of such a massive and dirty machine.

Actually, I also don't understand the inner workings of the person who finds pleasure in getting their hands dirty taking things apart, and then putting everything back together so it actually works again.  All this reminds me of those high school quizzes designed to help you discover what your true passions are--so you know what you want to do when you go grow up. If it was on a scale from 0 to 5, with 5 being "without a doubt!" and 0 meaning "are you crazy?", I would choose 0 without even having to think about it.  I hate the idea of having to fix cars.  I do admire a nice car though, but I would be happy with a car that runs well, isn't a repulsive colour or design, and is reasonably clean.

I have an obsession with "clean".  By "clean" I mean that there must be no foul odours.  My boyfriend recently bought a used car and there is this staleness that seems to linger.  It's like walking into an old diner that hasn't been open for a few years.  I also believe that if one were supposed to sit in something for a lengthy amount of time, the air should be breathable...one should be able to move without fear of dust or grime.  I can accept the fact that the outside gets dirty, but the inside should be inviting...clean.

Ok, some of you might be thinking now that my boyfriend must have such a neurotic girlfriend.  I admit I am a bit obsessive, but here is where I also admit that I really did enjoy the two and a half hours of watching my boyfriend fix his car today.  Watching him take things apart without a fear of breaking anything(he did break things) was quite fascinating.  His hands got dirty, but they were still the same hands that I love.  Of course it was his hands that were getting dirty, and not mine.  We did get a chance to talk and I asked him all sorts of silly questions like "who was your first crush?" and "do you believe in love at first sight?"(he does).  I asked him which side of the bed he would sleep on if we were to share the same bed(I once read about a survey that said women usually preferred the right..or was it the left?).  He said the left side.  I wondered why, but then I realized that I usually sit on the right side(passenger side) of his car.  "How funny", I mused.  Soon it was getting dark and I held the flashlight for him as he tightened the last screws.  "Maybe I was wrong to think fixing cars was such a repulsive thing", I was thinking to myself. It's so amazing how everything has to work in sync so that the car can do its job.

It was in his car the first time we held hands.  He was driving me to school and I was helping him to change a CD. Our fingers touched as I passed him the Lauryn Hill CD and he commented on how soft my hands were.  "Hey, don't use that line on me", I thought, but I held his hand anyway.  There was just something about him that made me want to hold his hands.

Edwen and Mayling have been "girlfriend and boyfriend" since March 11, 1999.

from Mayling's Themestream.com archive