I Don't Need No Stinkin' SUV

I live in Texas. As anyone who lives in Texas can tell you, residents must own a truck and/or an SUV. After all, you might have to:

• drive your kids to soccer practice
• purchase multiple bags of groceries
• transport a load of goods from one place to another
• drive over a speed bump in your neighborhood

I'm sure there are other reasons.

Most of the time, we think people buy trucks and SUVs because they want them, not because they need them. There's very little in life that requires that type of gas-guzzling horsepower or storage space.

Confession: The Boy and I do own a truck. However, it's a classic 1965 pickup that spends most of its time hiding in our garage or driving short trips to be ogled by jealous grown men who always wanted to have a classic pickup.

I was rethinking my hardcore cynicism of SUVs this weekend when The Boy headed to work and mentioned that, while he was gone, I should return some chairs that we had borrowed for the Hayley Open House Party.

Great idea!!! The only problem is that I Can't Drive The Truck.

Old Glory is stick shift (no problem) - a 3-in-the-tree (slight problem) whose gears can get entangled if you don't shift exactly the right way at exactly the right time (BIG problem). And she's The Boy's first love. Enough said.

That left me with the family car for returning the chairs. With some careful planning, based on multiple packing experiences for life overseas, I was able to get everything to fit.

Front and back seats:

And the trunk:

21 chairs and room to spare!