Dear Krystaal: A Love Letter to My Kia Soul
Yes girl. That’s what I originally named you.
With the accent and attitude included. kkk
Though I haven’t used your name explicitly, the thought behind it came from your dazzling bright lights shining through multiple circular spheres. Lined up in unison. Greeting my gaze. Standing tall and sheen.
Like crystals that bling, flash and sparkle in all your glory.
This letter has been sitting in my draft since 2018. Safe from embarrassment.
I have loved and still love my 2013 Kia Soul!+++.
Stained in Titanium.
Drenched in diamond headlights.
High enough to mate with an SUV.
Compact enough to flirt with a Smart Car.
Like the bottle service models of the 2010s,
pouring champagne down a rapper’s delight.
A nightclub interior
fitted with neon drums beating to my disco.
When I couldn’t be farther away from buying another car, I softened to leasing. Running your vechicle through the traffic and grease that is the sprawling city of Los Angeles — it’s a miracle you get from one end to the other disaffected.
Drooling in black smog.
Dinged from somebody tapping on their phone.
Sliding into your backside during a dangerous drizzle.
It’s no wonder everyone’s on credit trying to afford the luxury of spending many hours that compile into years, inside a moving home.
I drove used cars up until I met Krystaal in 2013. I couldn’t wrap my head around making large monthly payments for something I’d only borrow, or pay more for, just because I didn’t have upfront cash to buy outright.
It was absurd.
Then I saw my yearly expenses on a pretty pie chart with red tags labeled “Automotive Maintenance” and “Auto Repairs” taking up lots of space.
“I might as well be paying for a new car.”
All those times I got stuck.
All the hours and overnights at the body shop.
All the favors I asked friends.
The stalled AC in 95 degree heat.
A broken radiator on chilly nights. Yes it gets cold here.
All the out-of-pocket sacrifices in the name of emergency.
I could have been comfortable and safe in a new car.
Sometimes, you need to suffer and come to the conclusion yourself before taking sage advice. Before you can make that psychological leap. When it makes absolute sense for you. If I was already investing in what most Angelenos consider their second home, all I needed to change was my payment routine from surprise! to regular. And I too could live in the lap of — decency.
Even though I don’t necessarily refer to Krystaal in public, there is something to be said about naming an inanimate object meant to guard your life:
Pride. Joy. Kismet.
I never named my previous cars. Their existence was temporary from the onslaught. Always so temperamental. Now I believe, the more essence you give anything, sentient or not, the more they are imbibed with your feelings. They give back what they get.
They show you what you show it.
When I decided on a Kia Soul after months of test driving all kinds of makers, I leaped at the one I wanted at a price I could reasonably afford. And I don’t know who I was kidding leasing at first. I may not have known how to identify as buyer or leaser, but when the time was up I was already attached.
Surprise! She continues to give me life and warmth whenever I see her. I might have a wondering eye these days, but so far I haven’t seen anyone else I’d rather be with.
Do you have a name for your car? What’s your story? Krystaal may have friends out there!
- I started this draft on February 7, 2018 and finally got around to finishing it thanks to Medium’s Draft Day. How ‘bout you?! MediumDraftDay.com