Rambling long post about my misadventures with a car and the poor homeless guy who caught the brunt of my distress...

They gave me a Prius.  I'm not a Prius driver.  It was a horrible, horrible experience with absolutely no upside.

That's not true.  I survived and didn't damage the car.  Upside.

Not true either.  I did damage the car...no I didn't...yes...no...

I had trouble with the tiny knob in the center of the console, and several times thought I was in reverse when I wasn't, and one of those times I found out I was going forward by bumping into the car parked in front of me.  I wasn't going fast, because the Prius starts like a bicycle, but it was still a bit unnerving.  Maybe more for the guy in the other car.

I have never been tailgated before by so many people in such a short time.  This is because the Prius is basically a gas powered golf cart.  And golf carts don't belong on the freeway.

By the end of my second appointment I was shaking, feverish, and babbling.  I parked at a meter and began putting quarters in the machine (or as I like to call it - was robbed voluntarily by an inanimate object).  A man came up to me and asked if I would give him change.  I stared at him as if he'd asked me to fly him to Jupiter.  He went on to explain he was homeless.  At which point I said "I don't have change to give you" and continued to put quarters into the meter that was marked with credit card symbols (which seemed odd at first, but after $2.50 worth of quarters I didn't question it).  The man shuffled off.

I blame the Prius.  It sucked all compassion out of me.

Later I found several horrible and embarrassing photos of myself that I'd apparently taken while I was trying to drive.  How I'd managed to turn on my cell phone, select the camera, and press the button to take the picture all while trying to get out of everyone's way and keep the car going forward baffles me.  It also defeats the laws of physics.  I should not have deleted them.  I should have submitted them to a scientist to study.  There might have been a grant involved.

Bottom line - the Prius gets wonderful gas mileage, is a very small car, and you should be asked permission before being forced to drive it.