A VERY old picture of the Miata & S2000, back when I just started modifying the Miata....
Most of the time, I feel like a social awkward instead of the social butterfly I’m supposed to be. (Gemini here.)
So it’s fun, really, to have some nice conversations with people in which I can really connect. Most of the time, chances are good I won’t ever see these people again.
But it’s still nice to relate to someone for a tiny bit, know what I mean?
What’s with the magazines…??
Funny, but I can recall two distinct instances in which a couple of these brief conversations were struck up because of magazines.
The first was when I was getting a copy of Modified on a lunch break. The guy in line behind me said something, so we had a good minute or two car chat. It was another of the failed invites to an autocross in the end, but I’d like to think I make a positive impact for girls as far as cars go.
I really remember that one because it was only minutes after I chatted with a rotor-head as I was headed off on my lunch break. Now that’s someone I wish I could run into again… His white FC was immaculate looking, simply beautiful!!
The other magazine incident was when purchasing a copy of Project Car Tuner. The guy who rang my stuff up asked if I had a project. Yeah, my 240SX! After a minute or two, it was exchanged that I like JDM and he was into Euro, having had a couple of VW’s after having a Civic and deciding it wasn’t his thing.
Curiosity’s Invoked
It all makes me wonder what they ended up thinking of me. Totally selfish, I know, but I’m very concerned with giving off the wrong impression of a car girl.
I want to show that I know my stuff, I’m not stupid, and my cars will never be hot pink. I can’t really do that in a minute or two, can I?
Well…. Probably could, but only if I controlled the entire conversation and worked on an elevator pitch for it. That doesn’t sound like too much fun, really. And these things happen spontaneously anyhow.
In the end, it’s things like this that I like. Connecting with other car people is fun, and I really enjoy it. (Sometimes, though, I just wish I’d have more real friends, not a huge list of acquaintances.)
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“(Sometimes, though, I just wish I’d have more real friends, not a huge list of acquaintances.)”
Seems to go with the territory, I’m afraid. I used to be into bikes–old Harleys, old Brit and old bologna-slicers mostly–and I met a lot of good folks, but rarely did it ever approach what one might term a lasting relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I formed many acquaintances that seemed a lot like friendship, but they were always more “business” in nature. Had a lot of great rides and spent many quality hours BS-ing about bikes over beers while pretending to work on something, but it was still “business”. Once my interests shifted, or theirs did, to something else (like growing tired of BSAs and suddenly became enamored with Guzzis or etc) the relationship would effectively end. Since I’ve pretty much gotten out of the bike scene, I never hear from any of those guys and gals. It’s an odd thing.
I suppose the difference is, friends are in it because of you, hobby/interest acquaintances are there only for the shared hobby/interest.
Great stuff, BTW. For what it’s worth, I think you come across as a true car-nut. Gender need not apply. That’s a compliment. Keep enjoying what you enjoy and don’t worry about what kind of impression you give. None of us are really worth impressing anyway.
Great points, I guess it really isn’t all that unusual. I just think of the types of people we’ve met because of cars and it’s quite interesting to me… Anyone from students like myself, other military guys like my husband to those who are retired, business people, professors, doctors, surgeons and just recently (finally, haha) a lawyer.
Thankfully, I do have many friends because of cars, it’s just always seemed to me that it’s harder to make friends, but I’ve never really been the type to have a lot of friends either. I just like knowing a bunch of people and being able to talk to them, though I do consider the people in the Miata club we belong to to be good friends.