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Car Protocol

Matt talks about what he calls car protocol. Having just picked up a new car (congratulations) and a new fiancée (congratulations), his take on the situation is an interesting one.

My "female partner" would always get the front seat. Period. Regardless. And actually, the closest thing I've got to a "female partner" right now seems to insist on driving about 90% of the time. I mostly agree with Matt that "men hate being in a car when they're not the driver." I feel very weird when the aforementioned (ugh, hate that word, sounds so damn boring) female partner drives. But guess what? That's my problem, and I'm working to overcome it.

Actually, giving it more thought, it's not really a gender issue for me at all. The person who's closest to me I prefer to have sitting near me. That's it. If I'm closer friends with a guy, so be it. With a woman? So be it. Equally close? It will work itself out: that's why "shotgun!" was invented, right?

Never would my "female partner" be sitting in the back seat while I drive. Not unless she wanted to be there, of course. If she wanted to sit back there with the woman of another couple with whom she was close friends, perhaps, hopefully she'd at least be talking with her other female friend about what a great lover I am while I talk about sports with the other guy. 🙂 And if you don't see the sarcasm in that last part, well, stop reading my blog right now.

And as for being a passenger, well, who doesn't like to be in control? Every passenger wishes their driver drove more like they do, don't they? Change lanes in an intersection (something I'm wont to do in empty intersections if a slow car is in front of me) and your passenger, because she doesn't do that, is likely to notice and perhaps point it out. As a passenger, I notice when people don't use turn signals, something I used even to turn into my driveway in the suburbs on a street that saw traffic of no more than 100 cars/day.

In general, too, I hate sitting in the back seat. People are seated facing forward, so the front seat hears conversation from the back and front seats. The back seat often misses out on conversation between the front two passengers, I've found. If I'm going to nap, I like the back seat. If I want to talk, and converse, the front is definitely the place to be.

At any rate, it's no wonder Fiona got indignant about Matt's Car Protocol™. Me? I'm eagerly awaiting Matt's follow-up post: "Blogging From My New Bed: The Couch."

7 Responses to "Car Protocol"

  1. There is also the height consideration. I am relatively tall (6'3") and most of my friend's drive sports cars. So if I am not driving, I generally get the front seat no matter who is in the car, just because I am very uncomfortable crammed in the back of a sports car.

    I also have a friend that is 6'10", and the rule applys doubly so for him.

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  3. Derek, don't you know that short people love to torture tall folks 🙂

    I used to drive an '87 Acura Integra two door. My 5'4" friend and I would take the front seat while we crammed our 6'5" friends.

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