SilverBulletES
Member
- :
- '90 MX-5, '00 328i
So, yesterday at work some nutso called a bomb threat on the building next to ours. To be safe, the partners sent everyone home. It was about 3:30. Most of us were like kids on a snow day. Sort of.
I have a friend at work who's a designer. One of the best designers in the whole country for what he does. In spite of the fact he must do all his computer work with a stick in his mouth which he uses to manipulate a trackball. See, he's a paraplegic and while he can use his arms to lightly push his wheelchair, he really doesn't have full mobility in his arms.
So-- he can't get his wife on the phone, so I offer him a ride. I wasn't even thinking that I'd driven the Miata until we started going outside. The plan was to hang at my other work friend's house 5 minutes down the road until his wife could pick him up in the van. So Problem A: getting him in the Miata. Really not a big problem. In fact it was a lot easier because the Miata's close to the same height as his chair. And because the top was down, it was easier for two people to just lift him and swing him in. Problem B: chair didn't really fit in the Miata trunk, so we put it in back of someone's SUV.
OK, now the real part of the story. My friend (who rode his bike to work) joked with my other friend and asked him when's the last time he'd been in a convertible. (See, he usually only rides in his wife's conversion van with the chair lift.) He said: Well, actually the last time was when I had the accident {he smiled}. Both of us felt a bit bad. We thought it had been a sports injury for some reason. (See, we knew he was 6'4" and an athlete in high school when it happened.)
Well, so it was a beautiful day and he tells me a little about it as I drive him away from work. His first car was a red MG Midget his dad got from a guy who owed him money. His second car was an MGB that he had fixed up. That's the car he had the accident in. My main question (as a car geek) was how he got parts for that in a mining town in the middle of nowhere in northern Nevada. Had to order a bunch of parts -- of course. So much more dedication being an MG owner than a Miata owner! Respect! But he's about 40. They didn't have Miatas in the mid-80s.
Anyway, I somehow got the nerve to ask him what happened. Basically I think he was going too fast for conditions. He thinks he was going well over 80. I think he was 18, an age most of us were reckless drivers. Myself especially. Plus, you have to think that a Miata is a freakin' Volvo compared to an MG. Not to mention that the brakes and handling of a Miata make it a um... Miata next to an MG. But it still makes you think.
So, I was quite happy that I got to give a friend and fellow roadster enthusiast his first (in 20 years) and probably last convertible ride. Unless he's somehow in another emergency situation like that. I've never driven the Miata so carefully in my life as I did with him in the passenger seat. The guy has a great spirit, a cool wife, and recently a great kid. But I do wish we could be work roadster buddies.
So, drive safe friends. And think about a roll bar. I am.
I have a friend at work who's a designer. One of the best designers in the whole country for what he does. In spite of the fact he must do all his computer work with a stick in his mouth which he uses to manipulate a trackball. See, he's a paraplegic and while he can use his arms to lightly push his wheelchair, he really doesn't have full mobility in his arms.
So-- he can't get his wife on the phone, so I offer him a ride. I wasn't even thinking that I'd driven the Miata until we started going outside. The plan was to hang at my other work friend's house 5 minutes down the road until his wife could pick him up in the van. So Problem A: getting him in the Miata. Really not a big problem. In fact it was a lot easier because the Miata's close to the same height as his chair. And because the top was down, it was easier for two people to just lift him and swing him in. Problem B: chair didn't really fit in the Miata trunk, so we put it in back of someone's SUV.
OK, now the real part of the story. My friend (who rode his bike to work) joked with my other friend and asked him when's the last time he'd been in a convertible. (See, he usually only rides in his wife's conversion van with the chair lift.) He said: Well, actually the last time was when I had the accident {he smiled}. Both of us felt a bit bad. We thought it had been a sports injury for some reason. (See, we knew he was 6'4" and an athlete in high school when it happened.)
Well, so it was a beautiful day and he tells me a little about it as I drive him away from work. His first car was a red MG Midget his dad got from a guy who owed him money. His second car was an MGB that he had fixed up. That's the car he had the accident in. My main question (as a car geek) was how he got parts for that in a mining town in the middle of nowhere in northern Nevada. Had to order a bunch of parts -- of course. So much more dedication being an MG owner than a Miata owner! Respect! But he's about 40. They didn't have Miatas in the mid-80s.
Anyway, I somehow got the nerve to ask him what happened. Basically I think he was going too fast for conditions. He thinks he was going well over 80. I think he was 18, an age most of us were reckless drivers. Myself especially. Plus, you have to think that a Miata is a freakin' Volvo compared to an MG. Not to mention that the brakes and handling of a Miata make it a um... Miata next to an MG. But it still makes you think.
So, I was quite happy that I got to give a friend and fellow roadster enthusiast his first (in 20 years) and probably last convertible ride. Unless he's somehow in another emergency situation like that. I've never driven the Miata so carefully in my life as I did with him in the passenger seat. The guy has a great spirit, a cool wife, and recently a great kid. But I do wish we could be work roadster buddies.
So, drive safe friends. And think about a roll bar. I am.
Last edited:
