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Stolen cars are not an option

(cont'd) Throw in some routine maintenance, and we're talking about a lot of groceries again. Heaven forbid something requiring major mechanical work happened. But I hear that almost never happens to 1987 Honda Preludes.
In addition to being free from worry about my car being stolen and free
from worry about what that mysterious rattle is going to cost me, I'm free from worrying about finding a parking space close to campus. No way in hell would I pay for a parking pass.

My car-owning friends would point out that it's not all freedom from worry and thousands of extra dollars in the bank when you don't own a car. It's true; I end up walking a lot of places. But then, my upbringing with regard to cars and walking probably is different than most people at Western.

No roads connect Stehekin to the outside world. People arrive on a
passenger ferry on Lake Chelan, a float plane or by foot. Vehicles arrive and depart by barge. It seldom made more than one trip a week except for the peak summer season. So people didn't have to worry about car theft. Nowhere to go.

Stehekin is in the middle of the North Cascades, so sometimes winter snow
storms would prevent my parents from driving me to school. Sometimes our ancient Dodge Dart would take it into its head to prevent my parents from driving me to school for no good reason. So I would walk the three miles each way. One parent usually would accompany me about half way in the morning until it was light enough we didn't need headlamps. Later my mom told me this was to keep me safe from mountain lions.

So I walk a lot. When I lived on campus, I could get to Sunset Square in 45 minutes. Barkley Village, where my bank is, took a little longer. Bellis
Fair took maybe an hour if I was lucky with the crosswalks. The benefits are
numerous. I get exercise. I have a chance to think. The fact that I have
to take a hike to withdraw money from the bank and take another hike to buy stuff keeps me from spending money.

Despite all the positive side effects, I can understand some people my balk at walking. They can avail themselves of the Whatcom Transportation Authority. WTA buses have 226 scheduled stops every week day on the section of High Street in Western's campus when Western is in session.

I recognize that walking and buses don't cover every situation. One time I wanted to go to an event in Seattle and my class schedule made Greyhound impossible. Another time I wanted to do some camping in Canada. Just a couple of weeks ago, I needed to stock up on more groceries than I could comfortably carry. This is what friends and roommates are for. Despite the
persuasiveness of my arguments, no one is likely to discard his or her car.

But suppose I manage to convince one person to take the ultimate step in car-theft prevention. That one person would still have access to his or her friends' and roomates' cars for nothing more than a winning smile, a kindly worded plea and a couple of bucks for gas money. Worked for me.

Sidebar:

Meth use driving local increase in car theft.
by Mugs Scherer —>