Apart from a half-hearted attempt at learning to drive in my twenties (booked some lessons, took a test, nearly killed someone, didn’t bother with a replay), I’ve never seen much point in getting behind a wheel. After all, the Tube has always been the best way to get around the Smoke; only plummy-voiced wankers in Chelsea tractors and micro-dicked Russian oligarchs in Jags drive through Central London. And let’s face it, I’ve always been partial to sipping the sauce, so a night bus was always the obvious choice as I tottered off home in the wee small hours with a drunken Yank in tow. I do admit though that I’ve always taken the precaution of stepping out with a bone fide driver; a chauffeur comes in very handy for those out-of-town errands.
Liam was driving a company VW when we first met. I can’t deny it was convenient and the cross-Channel lunch in Le Touquet via Le Shuttle was a fun date. My pert booty slipped quite nicely into the front passenger seat and the sound system was loud and fabulous. When we took the momentous decision to jump ship and paddle ashore to Asia Minor, the Golf went back to the dealer and we didn’t buy a car in Turkey. Why would we? We were neither mad nor suicidal. Four years later, with family duties to perform in London, we pitched our tent in Norwich and parked a sexy-arsed Renault Megane outside it. And now, with a new flat and different duties, va va voom has been handed down to my sister and we’re car-less once more. They’ll be no more driving Miss Daisy here. And anyway, Sainsbury’s deliver the Pinot Grigio free of charge.
Perking the Pansies 
Good for you!…one of my ambitions is to live somewhere car free!
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I’m used to it really, having never learned to drive but it does have its limitations.
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Best safe, Jack, and a good time.
I used to drive to the big city in all kinds of weather (30 km) but that was in my younger nothing-can-touch-me days. I enjoyed the freedom of independence but now my car costs me a fortune to keep and looks as old as me. You have the right idea. I blew it. Now I’m stuck in the burbs and can’t go anywhere without a car.
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That’s the trouble with those dastardly suburbs!
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Sigh. Can’t have it all. 😉
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You will survive but probably with more bunions
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And better functioning legs, hopefully!
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Miss Daisy! Is this yet another non de plume on the road to glorious immortality?
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It’s been my nickname for years 😀
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I absolutely wouldn’t be without my car–take my house, my clothes, my jewellery–but mitts off my vehicle! And I have a bit of a leadfoot. 🙂
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Funny, isn’t it? I guess it’s what you grow up with. For all of my Dad’s army life, we never had a car.
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Very true. My father was and still is a carnut. He has four daughters, all of whom inherited his love of cars and driving.
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