Hot Rods One That Got Away...

I enjoy conversation. It's fun/melancholy to remember stuff, I guess. Some of these stories of ahh....woe, can be made into great comedic fodder.
With no disrespect to 1Nimrod I don't like these "One that got away" stories. No Sir, I don't like it.

Mainly because it's bullshit.

It's bullshit because it never happened or worked out the way we wanted.
It's bullshit because it suggests and produces feelings of loss for something that never happened and never was or if it indeed was, it did not work out. So, what?
It's bullshit because it suggests that what's going on right now or what you have now is somehow less.
It's bullshit because of the martyr status of the lost and the loser. In other words, things like this can claim a certain notoriety or importance far more than they actually were.
It's bullshit.
It's bullshit because we remember things through "rose colored glasses". Sometimes the "one that got away" was a piece of junk, a stinker, but we did not get that far, did we?
This gets really close to I'm a loser because of X, Y and Z so I might as well cock the revolver or jump off the stool.
That's bullshit.

In a sense it's like crying over spilt milk. It's gone.

With that said, it is possible to come back later with a dirty dishrag or paper towel and lap up that milk off the floor. Then you can take the milk-soaked rag and try to squeeze it back into the jug.
What do you have now? You have a half-a-jug of dirty, nasty, tainted milk that tastes like a dish rag. In other words, when the "one that got away" comes back....It's not the same. It's been tainted.
Now sometimes this is not always true (in case the car was restored after you) but in this case, the 61 C-10 beside the barn, it's very true. That's not the same truck that you knew. It's been spilt. There's no need to squeeze what's left back into the jug. Buy you another jug.

Let's not pine over the ones that got away. Let's remember them with fondness and the joy they brought even if it was just a dream.
Let us enjoy what we have now.
Let us enjoy the search and the work for the one we have or.....
The One that did not or will not get away.

 

My "one that got away" was a '65 'Vette soft top that was freshly restored by my next-door neighbor.
My little business had successfully grown to the point that for the first time in my life I could buy a nice "company car" on the "one easy payment plan". It was 1982 and the "car of the year" Supra MK2 could be had for $20K versus the 'Vette that my neighbor wanted to sell, also for $20K, to make room for his next project. Either would have an easy life of 2K miles per year of sunny-day driving.
I chose the Supra, which did serve me well, but over time I came to regret turning down the 'Vette. It was black paint, black interior, black top.

 

2 brothers I used to work with would ride together every day - both real big by real tall. They had a cavalier and I swear it was packed side to side with person, the center console was destroyed. That cavalier wore out - they bought a pontiac sunfire - its the same size

 

There were two brothers that lived not too far from that were like that. They filled up the front seat of their 64 Impala! It was a low rider when they were both in it, with just one, it leaned to that side. Was really funny to see their daddy riding in the back seat with them in the front, he was a short skinny guy, about 125 lbs soaking wet! Must have came from their mothers side. One of the brothers, Fred, drove a truck for the place I was working, his hands would make three of mine!