Black Gold... Texas Tea...

You know what you almost never seen any more? Big puddles of oil in parking lots. That's not to say that there isn't any oil at all in parking lots because there is, but not like there used to be back in the old days.
   I remember my grandfather would put down cardboard and newspaper underneath his cars in the garage, and he'd change out the newspaper weekly, as regular as mowing the lawn. Dripping oil was just a fact of car ownership, something you dealt with. You expressed a drive from San Antonio to Dallas in miles, gallons of gas, and quarts of oil. That's about 290 miles, sixteen or seventeen gallons of gas and at least a quart of oil, maybe two.
   Not so much any more. It's so rare to see anything dripping in parking lots that when I see a fresh, glistening streak of wetness underneath my truck I'm instantly alert. I look at the placement of the drip, where it might have come from if it's from my truck, what kind of fluid it might be. I become a truck doctor. It's never from my truck, of course, it's always someone else's problem. Back when I had my '72 Chevelle the only time I would have been concerned is if I'd come out of a store and hadn't noticed any drips. That would have meant I was running dry on one of the car's vital fluids. I loved that car but it leaked like a Civil War battle survivor.
   Are cars that much better-made now? Absolutely. And not just tighter engines built to smaller tolerances either, the whole thing's just better. I'd trust my convertible more in a crash than I ever would have my 3000 lbs of Detroit steel Chevelle.
   But... I don't know... while no drips is certainly better for the environment - especially when multiplied by all the cars on the road - it's just not the same. I think people put too much trust in their cars now, they're too reliable. You ever see someone broken down on the side of the road these days? They're helpless, utterly beside themselves and at total loss as to how to get themselves out of the jam they're in. I used to drive with a tool box in the trunk so I could fix whatever went wrong as it was happening.
   Less oil on the road means less need to know how to fix things which means more reliance on other to make those repairs which means we're becoming a nation of passive aid-seekers rather than a nation of problem-solvers. I think we need more oil in parking lots, more breakdowns, more self-reliance and less calling for AAA.
   Unless it's too hot outside. Then you should definitely call the tow truck. AAAAARRRRGH! See? It's happening to me now!