Now I Can Die Happy

There’s a new love in my life. He’s exciting, sleek, and has the smoothest moves. Sure, sometimes he has gas, and at present he’s sort of dirty – but he’s all mine.

He’s also a scooter. Blooter the Scooter, to be exact. I fell in love with scooters on a trip to Asia this past winter. The crowded streets of Shanghai were not ideal for a test ride, however. People had little restraint for stepping right out in front of you, taxi drivers were more like kamikaze pilots, and depending on the time of the day, the air is at times downright unbreathable.

But I was fascinated. Within my sister Julie’s apartment complex was an E-Mart superstore, China’s answer to Wal-Mart. Since Julie’s refrigerator was the size of a shoebox, we frequented the E-Mart nearly every day for fresh food. And every day, when walking through the front door, there was a veritable army of scooters lined up, their headlights as eyes, staring me down. Julie would sigh and roll her eyes as I, like clockwork, stopped to sit on some of them, play with buttons, and scheme about how I could get one of these US$200 beauties back to the US.

Next came Thailand, a scooter haven. In fact, it was the only way to get around, as Bangkok traffic was typically at a standstill, and scooting in between lanes was easy. Although I had a rather unfortunate incident involving some hot pavement and my knees and feet, I came back to the States feeling a sense of loss for having to give up my week-long scooter rental.

Chicago winters clearly aren’t conducive to scooting, so my yearning for a scooter was tabled until Spring Break rolled around. My parents begged me to reconsider: “It’s so dangerous!” “You live in Chicago, it’ll just get stolen!” “How will you get to your residency this summer?” But I was hooked. I spent the next week on Craigslist.com searching in earnest for the precise model and color I wanted. On the last day, my search ended.

The Yamaha Vino 125 in royal blue would be all mine, and I was to name him Blooter (thanks Carly). For the first couple of days, Blooter and I were a shaky pair, but as recently as last week, I drove my 5’11” roommate to Dominick’s and stored about 20 lbs. of groceries in Blooter’s tiny frame.

And so, Blooter and I will live happily ever after – at least until the next Evanston winter.

……….Kara Bogart