big vans

Honora tells a story of sitting in that first DMV class during high school.  When the person from the DMV explained how the driving test works, a youngster held up his hand. The conversation went like this: 

 "Can I take the test if I use my cousin's big ass van?"

 "Excuse me?"

 "Can I take the test if I use my cousin's BIG ASS VAN?"

He wasn't trying to be rude, it was a true question and after some laughter, it was treated as such.   

So I'm sitting in my little City Car Share Car (prius today) wolfing down the first half of a tuna sandwich and spy this van across the street.  It is for sale.  You can still see the "super shuttle" shadow below the turquoise and sky blue paint job.  I am in love.

Now why in the world would I want to own a biggassvan?  Oddly, Greg and I had just been talking about Honora's DMV classroom experience last night, and this reminded me of it again.  This week I find I am helping the lower Fillmore community groups do a "brunch business in one week" project for the middle & high school students that are out on spring break.  They are trying to keep these kids off the streets and expose them to business, particularly thoughts around marketing themselves.  On Monday there were 12 teens, Tuesday grew to 15 and yesterday, almost 20.

When I met the young men & women yesterday, I expected a lot of attitude, but no, they were surprisingly gentle, with themselves and me.   Their eyes sparkle but it is hard for them to greet you eye to eye.  I wondered about what this world would be like if everyone could relate on the same level as everyone else.  It has gone steps away from "I'd be kissing up" or "I'd be like them."  It is almost like there is now no reference point to start with.   At first I thought it was because I looked so out of context but then I noticed this was how they related with all the other adults too. No one has explained how important your ability to greet someone is to your future.

Is this teaching them to be "like us?"  I don't think so.  Whatever access point that allows someone to connect or understand someone else or improves awareness is valuable.  I thought about the big blue van again, picturing it full of these kids going to the farmer's market and talking about what fruits and vegetables they like.  We went yesterday(in another van) and it was fun seeing them discover blood oranges, sugar cane, oregano plants and taste the "nasty" cheese.  They may not greet me in a direct way, but when we talk about food, it is easy to relate.