The Young Man, The Old Man and The Edsel

The young man was probably too drunk to be driving, although that was true most nights. He had a date nearly every night of the week, yet he rarely knew what day it was nor which side of the street to park. The young man never read the parking signs, because he learned long ago to just park on the same side of the street as the Edsel.

The old man always knew what day of the week it was and which side of the street to park. On Tuesdays, he got his bag of groceries from the church. On Wednesdays, he parked the Edsel on the west side of the street. On Thursdays, he parked the Edsel on the east side of the street. Friday through Monday were spent mostly just looking out the apartment window.

The young man walked up to his car and saw the parking ticket on the windshield. He looked up at the parking sign then turned around to look for the Edsel. The massive Edsel had the complexion of an old statue, and it was parked on the same side of the street as the young man’s glistening car. It too had a ticket on the windshield. “Motherfucker,” the young man muttered to himself.

Earlier that same morning, the old man watched from his apartment window as the parking enforcement lady placed a ticket on the Edsel’s windshield. “Cocksucker,” the old man muttered to himself.

This same scene played itself out every Thursday morning for the next several weeks. The young man’s “Motherfucker” grew progressively louder. The old man’s “Cocksucker” got progressively quieter. Each week, the young man paid the fine and cursed his bad luck. Each week, the old man placed the ticket on a pile of other tickets knowing he could never pay.

Six weeks after the Edsel didn’t start, the parking enforcement lady had it towed away. As he watched from the apartment window while the Edsel was dragged off, the old man thought about the girl who sat on the passenger side so many years ago and the impossibly long bench seat that separated them.

1. kristytumbledit reblogged this from flailure and added:

   now i’m teary-eyed....things keep building

2. laurengberg reblogged this from flailure
3. laurengberg liked this
4. do-over liked this
5. leahmann liked this
6. thisistheglamorous liked this
7. whltexbread liked this
8. eoporto liked this
9. atsween liked this
10. angelablack liked this
11. fuiru liked this
12. citizenkerry liked this
13. hman liked this
14. kellydeal reblogged this from flailure
15. kellydeal liked this
16. flailure posted this