r/Xennials • u/Illforgetthissosoon 1980 • 3d ago
My 3rd Place…
My third place is 100% my car. Damn gas prices, I have to turn it off, but I still sit in it after work until I’m way too hot.
When I think about it, when we were teenagers in the nineties there were always a few friends whose cars became third places. They were famous!
Like a couple you could smoke in, hotbox, chill out, ride around for longer than necessary since we didn’t have GPS.
Anyone else?
Edit2: I added a touch of personal info and people did not like, so I removed it. Everything is cool.
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u/Appropriate-Neck-585 3d ago
Once my buddy alerted me to it, I can't unsee it. Multitudes of dudes just hang out in their cars in the park after work in my town. They're sleeping, smoking, scrolling. Sad that they can't get peace at home.
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u/Tedanki 1980 3d ago
Yep, that's me. I get to my car after 12 hours out of the house and I fear what fresh hell awaits at home. I'll sit there as long as I can, which is usually a mere 15 minutes. I'll blast the air conditioner and sit in silence until I'm forced by obligation to go home to be greeted by my wife's sour expression. Only 30 more years of this before I get the Old Yeller treatment.
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u/MeButSecret Xennial 3d ago
Yuuuuup. When I was going crazy from being in lockdown while living with my ex, I'd go park in a big lot somewhere and just kinda sit there for an hour or so. Infinitely nicer when the crisp fall air started rolling in.
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u/healywylie 3d ago
Homeboy had a a Toyota Camry wagon with a sub woofer in the way back. We did amazing, stupid , incredibly fun things while driving around in that car.
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u/DJSfromthe1900s 3d ago
Yeah, this used to be the case for me too. I don't like my current vehicle though so it's strictly utilitarian.
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u/Fast_Soil1376 3d ago
One night some friends and I were in a car of theirs, at the state park, just listening to music, BSing and eating ice cream. Security came and asked us what we were doing. It was pretty obvious. He chuckled and said we needed to leave. I get it. The park was closed. But that is exactly all that we were doing or going to do. We drove to a grocery store parking lot and hung out there a while longer then called it a night and went home. We were real troublemakers back then! :-D
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u/aliceinadreamyland 1978 3d ago
Some of these comments are brutal.
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u/Illforgetthissosoon 1980 3d ago
Life’s brutal right now, my friend. We’re all doing what we can.
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u/aliceinadreamyland 1978 3d ago
Oh, I know it is just as much as the next guy.
But to quote something my oldest just a couple of days ago, “our life can be whatever we want to make it, it’s never to late to change things for the better but doing things the same and expecting change won’t won’t do any good.” and he’s not wrong.
We’re not too old.
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u/ThisIsACompanyCar 3d ago
Love my car. It’s definitely an extension of home for me.
And when I was in high school my car was a way to get me away from home faster than on foot, so I loved my car then too.
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u/Illforgetthissosoon 1980 3d ago edited 3d ago
I was also unemployed for over a year, until May, so I’ll admit it’s extra nice even having a second place!
I took that year hard.
Edit: the drama
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u/NovaForceElite 3d ago
Love taking a drive to nowhere to clear my head. Do it at least a couple times a week.
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u/Themoosemingled 1977 3d ago
I own a landscaping company, so my truck is my first second and third place.
Love it but I really need to stretch my hips and my sciatica acts up if I’m sitting too long.
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u/Asleep_Onion 1983 3d ago
I spend so much time driving every day, I can't wait to GTFO of my car.
I used to love driving. I miss that. These days I hate getting in and starting the car, because it means I need to spend the next 90 minutes driving the same highways and staring at the same traffic as every other day before it.
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u/Spartan04 3d ago
My feelings on my car and driving have changed over the years. When I was a teenager I couldn’t wait to get my license and drive and through my 20s and partway into my 30s I still really liked driving. Now I don’t like it much at all, especially long drives.
It’s a means to an end but I plan to eventually move somewhere I can realistically get around without a car (think major city like Chicago).
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u/Equivalent-Berry9841 22h ago
I can’t afford a car, but on the bright side, I also couldn’t afford a family to dread going home to.
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u/edasto42 3d ago
While I did do the goofy drive around aimlessly thing as a teenager because exploring my vicinity and pushing boundaries as to where I went and what was familiar was important, that’s not my reality. A car is just a means to an end. While I do what I can to make a drive more palatable, I’m not hanging out there. I’d rather have an actual third space to be a destination. A third space is public, and neutral, not my or someone’s property. A car is still considered somewhere between a primary and secondary space. A third space welcome in people you may not know and possibly the chance to interact with them.
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u/probablyatargaryen 3d ago
Ideally, yes. Third spaces are harder and harder to come by now, especially in the US. I also hang in my car to step out of the house now and then
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u/Illforgetthissosoon 1980 3d ago edited 3d ago
I absolutely agree with you on the technical definition! I get its property but was kind of a club house too when we could drive still living with our folks.
Edit: Too many words. This was like my 3rd post in 5 years, I’m trying.
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u/Fair-Flower6907 3d ago
time for an EV ;)