I knew it probably had to be just a matter of time before one of my children, specifically my son, started being fascinated with cars, and, although it pains me to say it, NASCAR.
We are surrounded by NASCAR culture here....you see driver's numbers plastered all over cars, jackets, lunchboxes, tshirts, caps, etc. You can't go into a store without seeing some NASCAR-licensed item on display.
So Thing 2, who is totally into Matchbox cars now, asked the other day if he could buy a "race car with numbers on it." I thought he meant just a regular Matchbox car, so as a reward for putting up with a long boring day running errands with me I told him we could go buy one. When we got to the store he made a line right for the NASCAR Matchbox cars....wouldn't even entertain the idea of a "regular" one. He laid out all eight of the different cars they had their on the floor and carefully considered which color combinations (in the paint jobs) and which numbers suited him best. His ultimate choice, much to my amusement, was Jeff Gordon's car. He liked the numbers on it (24) and the colors (blue, with red flames on the hood). He didn't know, or ask, whose car it was.
When we went through the checkout the cashier exclaimed loudly, "OH ARE YOU A JEFF GORDON FAN? DIDN'T HE WIN THE RACE ON SUNDAY?" Think 2 looked at her like she had lost her mind. When we got outside I told him that the reason she had asked him that was because the car he had picked out was Gordon's. Well you would have thought I had said he just won a bushel basket of chocolate bars...."JEFF GORDON....I HAVE JEFF GORDON'S CAR???" Turns out all his peeps at school are Gordon fans, and they were going to find this new purchase to be COOL.
So now as I write this, Thing 2 is in the living room acting out a NASCAR race, announcing all the action using the names of three actual drivers, and pretending that they are looping and chasing each other around the track he's made. At school yesterday he was the most-favored boy because he had his 24 car with him.
A friend of mine, who has two young sons who actually watch NASCAR occasionally with their dad, and actually do know what the heck it is, told me that her sons are captivated by the drivers and their cars too. She summed it up this way, "to them, the drivers are Superheros. They have no idea who they really are, but they just like to throw their names around like they do."
Now if I could just get Jeff Gordon to convince Thing 2 to eat vegetables.
7 comments:
It really was a matter of time. Just be glad it wasn't Thing 1 who caught the fever.
That Guy reports that NASCAR merchandise sales are down 13% for the first quarter, compared with last year. Perhaps this culteral phenomenon will be short-lived.
While living in the "Land of Dixie", I learned that NASCAR is short for "Non-Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks". So, how about a Moon-pie and an RC cola instead of those vegetables.
Does the banana-flavored Moon pie count as a serving of fruit?
laid them carefully on the floor to decide what color best suited him?- sounds so very ED! or maybe that's just how kids are.... picking the best matchbox car is a serious job. i was just lamenting to someone the other day how my entire matchbox collection was stolen by the slug down the street. oh, caravia! (this being the very favorite car, named on independence pass in colorado as the sister and i were too into our toys to notice the beautiful scenery going past).
Next stop Bristol!
TG
Oh, Caravia. What a beautiful shiny golden car you were- even after your roof accidentally got smashed in.
Only with 25 years of perspective do I realize our indifference to the scenery and absorbtion in tiny cars was our only mechanism for coping with ALTITUDE SICKNESS! "Look, kids-- Big Ben, Parliament."
Magnificance on the left, grandeur on the right.
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