The Lesser of Two Evils

The big news of my weekend is that I drove my brand new Prius into Manhattan, not once, but TWICE. I even parked it on the street and left it for several hours at a time...all of that without having an anxiety attack.

It is probably obvious that I am a neurotic freak about my car. Only neurotic freaks actually give their cars names (my Prius is named George, in case you missed my previous blog entries). So, the idea of taking my 3 week-old car into one of the most aggressively driving cities was not an easy decision for me. But, I cringed at the thought of having to deal with the Path train and several unpredictable Manhattan subways, especially in comparison to an air-conditioned, comfie car with my choice of audio entertainment.

So, George and I braved the crazy traffic of the Holland Tunnel, the West Side Highway, and the crowded streets of both the Upper West and East Sides this weekend. We had fun...well, that was when I wasn't swearing at the crazy NYC drivers. Seriously, George is BRAND NEW, and I don't want even a tiny little scratch on him, let alone a huge dent from some psycho driver who doesn't look to see what's in the way.

Some other not so fun experiences George and I had included:

1) Looking for parking on the UWS for 45 minutes (I nearly gave up and thought about driving back to NJ!). All the while having to deal with impatient NYC drivers honking at me if I slowed down to check out a potential parking spot. Grrrrrrrr...

2) Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 15 minutes to get to the entrance of the Holland Tunnel to come back home to NJ.

The entire experience made me wonder if driving into NYC is really any better than taking the trains. Yes, some time is saved getting from point to point, but that time is easily wasted while trying to find a parking spot. And, don't forget about dealing with the ungodly traffic while trying to get into and out of NYC via the Holland Tunnel. But, there is something to be said for being in a comfortable, quiet, air-conditioned, brand new car.

As interesting of an experience we had, George and I are very happy to be back home, safe and sound in New Jersey. I think we'll be taking a little break before our next trip into the big scary city!