A Fiat 500 in Hawaii

(Written by Nan Barker, WIL Committee chair.)

Is this a law related post?  Probably not, but I think I can place a legal issue in it somewhere.  So, why am I writing this post on this blog?  Because it's May.  I don't know about you, but every May is crazy.   The month rivals and sometimes surpasses even December.

In May, kids are finishing up school with all the activities associated with it: concerts, programs, finals, graduations, etc.  People in almost every area are trying to get things "finished" before everyone takes off for the summer.  Vacations are being planned. Most parents are panicking knowing their children will be home, all day, for the next couple of months.

Back to the point, why this blog post here and why is it entitled A Fiat 500 in Hawaii?

My husband, Dan, and I just returned from a week long trip in Hawaii.  Yes, we did it in May.  Crazy? You bet, but we were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.  We went to Hawaii on our honeymoon and planned to go back on our 10th anniversary.  However, our 10th anniversary came in May.  So, we thought we'd try our 20th anniversary. Once again, it came in May.  Funny thing, huh? Well, several months ago we intelligently recognized the fact that our 30th anniversary would also come in May.  We decided we just had to buy the tickets, rent the condo and go.  We'd deal with the May issues upon our return.

We went.  We had a wonderful time and several remarkable experiences. One of those experiences involved a Fiat 500.  Before I say anything more, I need to apologize to any readers who may have a Fiat 500.  Enough said.

Me and the tin can on wheels.

Since it was just the two of us we decided to rent a compact car.  Our idea of compact and Alamo's were quite different. When the agent took us to our car,  I stopped in my tracks. Was that the whole car?  Was he crazy?  There was no way we were going to drive that thing.  Dan and I looked at each other.  And, after having spent 7 hours on a very cramped plane and another hour getting to the "enter the rental car" stage, we shrugged our shoulders and got in.

Driving the car was an adventure.  I referred to it as a tin can on wheels.  Dan said he felt like he was driving a go-cart.  Driving on the freeway next to semis was "invigorating".

Although we weren't staying in Honolulu, we were nearby one day when we decided to get something to eat.  We thought we'd try The Rainbow Drive-In, one of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants (it's a food network show).  Of course we got lost, took the wrong exit, couldn't find the street (all this while using an ipad map for directions).  At one point, when we thought we were close, we got in the lane to turn left.  As it turned out, left turns weren't allowed there.  We found ourselves trying to turn left in an intersection, with a red light facing us, cars coming from many directions and a large semi-like truck heading right for us.

Here comes the legal part:  did we sign some sort of release when we agreed to take this car; do our children know where our wills are; what will people think when they read that two attorneys were killed when trying to find a Guy Fieri restaurant while driving a Fiat 500?

The truck stopped.  We survived.  We even found the restaurant.

The thing I finally grew to appreciate about the Fiat 500 was that even though it was May, and we were in Hawaii celebrating our 30th anniversary,  it made me feel like we were back in college.  Driving that car was not the responsible, mature, sensible thing to do.  But it sure made life exciting!  It turns out this May and that Fiat 500 made me feel young!