Cars and Neckties

Written 01/19/06

Cars and Neckties

A much bigger company purchased the little company where I work. I went from an 800-person company to one with over 26,000. It seems like I am 20 times busier. There are a lot of new systems and procedures to learn. I am just beginning to catch up with life a little.

With the new company, I will be getting a company car; Buick Lacrosse, I think. For the last few months I have driven our family car, a Chrysler Pacifica (a crossover SUV). It will be nice to have someone else (the new company) picking up the entire tab for my car. Although the Chrysler is much more comfortable and versatile than the Buick will be, the Buick will have a unique advantage for seeing my first client everyday.

For the last almost 20 years, I have driven regular cars for work almost exclusively. Because most often my first stop is at least ½ hour (and sometimes much further) from home, I don’t put on my tie until I arrive at my initial destination. Then I step out of the car and tie my tie on using the reflection in the car window. It seems that over the years the curve of the glass and the height of the windows have been pretty constant from car to car. I have become so good at putting on my tie this way, that is second nature and I can do it in even less time and more perfectly than in a bathroom mirror.

Then I got the Chrysler. Now I get out of the car, usually on the verge of being late. I grab my tie and look up instead of down into my reflection in the window and only see the top 2/3s of the tie. I have yet to get the tie done right the first time. I end up with the skinny end longer than the fat end or the whole tie ending 6 inches above my belt buckle. I stand in a parking lot every day wasting the first 5 minutes of my day tying and retying.

You are probably shaking your head (if you are still reading at this point) and thinking, “Duh, there are lots of other cars in the average parking lot with no one using the window reflections in any of them.” That would be a good point except by now it is the principle of the thing. I am going to get it right just once before the new car comes in a few weeks or strangle myself trying.