We all wanted a van ...

We all wanted a van ...

Growing up in the late 70s we all wanted a van … and by van I do not mean a family vehicle with all sort of seatbelts and bench seats … no … we wanted a really cool traveling love machine on wheels like the cool guys on television and in the movies had … these vans were brightly painted and screamed cool …

It wasn't just Han Solo that ruined my generation … (Han was much cooler before Lucas destroyed Star Wars by no longer having him fire first, making Yoda a quitter, and directing the actress out of Natalie Portman)

It was the van ... we wanted to be like the guy in the movie “The Van” … and believe me, this was a horrible film, watch-able only for how bad it really was …

Granted, we were something like 10 or 11 and had only a vague inkling as to why we wanted a traveling love machine on wheels … but want we did … and when we got cable and Showtime and “The Van” would be on really late we would sneak out to the living room or find a way to watch it at a friend’s house …

Again, we didn't completely understand why, but we really wanted to find out ….

The other day I nearly got T-Boned by a late 70’s van that once upon a time was one of these traveling love machines on wheels … it was black with colored stripes of bright orange and yellow along the top … it was also beaten, battered, rusty, and burning oil … the guy driving it was treating it like a junker instead of the classic it sort of almost was …

Now, I drive a van … one of those family ones with multiple seatbelts …