We’re getting to that time of the year down here in the southeast where it becomes quite advantageous to have an indoor or covered parking spot during the day. Much like it is nice to have a garage during winter in the north so you can avoid sweeping snow off and you have a better chance at not having a dead battery in the morning, it’s just as nice to not be exposed to the sun in the south during summer.
Once we get to June around here, entering your exposed-to-the-sun car after leaving it for more than ten minutes is an exercise in trying not to get burned. It’s the equivalent of putting hot food in your mouth and then playing volleyball with it so your tongue and roof of your mouth don’t get burned. As you open your door, you’re met by a blast furnace and you half expect to see a glassmaker inside your car plying at his wares.
Thankfully I’ve got a light tan interior. My previous car, while it had the cheap cloth seats was also tan so my buns weren’t scorched when I sat down. The problem was the steering wheel and dashboard were black so I hated to touch the wheel. It’s like if you know something will create a static shock if you touch it; I had the same sense of dread touching the scalding hot wheel. Since the steering wheel has been determined to be Essential to driving, I had no choice but to risk losing fingerprints as I clinched a wheel that was hotter than an electric stovetop.
On top of that, on a hot day what do you want to do besides open the windows temporarily? You want to crank up the A.C. Of course until you actually get the car moving it’s going to blast air that is more suitable for baking bread. This is all negated if you’re parked in a garage. Cold air commences almost immediately and I am thankful it’s been 4 years since I worked at a place that had outdoor parking.
Would an indoor window protector work? I don’t know and I don’t intend to find out. They seem more hassle than they’re worth and also kind of dorky. Compared to my older car, the car I have now seems to get cooler a heckuva lot faster. There are only three essential items I keep in my car at all times – my umbrella, Ally’s car seat and gum. “Gum”, you ask? It is a good alternative over water during rush hour in order to feel hydrated but not fill up the bladder at the same time.
In Chicago, even though I didn’t have a car, you still had an un-fun game called “Will you get the non-air-conditioned train car?” to play during the summer. Unlike the Brown Line, which generally had much nicer and cleaner cars (and also went to nicer neighborhoods), the Red Line was 50/50 in terms of your chances of getting a boiling hot, smelly train car. I never did decide what smelled worse – an 85 degree Train of Funk or a bus on a snowy day that smelled like wet dog when the snow on people’s jackets melted as they got on board.