Car Packing

CAR PACKING
By John Ross Harvey

Most people have packed their cars

Trucks, minivans, smart cars whatever
For a long or short trip
For a cousin’s birthday or Christmas or Easter
You bring stuff you hope to leave behind
And the stuff you receive is hopefully smaller
Never happens
The stuff you acquire on these trips
Be it Christmas presents or souvenirs at gift shops
Will always be bigger than what you started with
And you’ll have to repack the vehicle
In such a way
That it all fits
Without falling out
Since we go to Quebec a lot, being from Ontario
Those extra items are the cheaper beer
Not sure why but Quebec beer is $10 cheaper per case
And that’s just the 12 pack
Ontarians like the 2-4’s
A whole lot of Americans got blown away with that
6 packs are not standard issue in Canada
I know you like them, but please
That’s an appetizer
Back to the point though
We have one of those minivans
Not the extended variety
The cheaper one that isn’t
We have about a foot behind the back seat
Ok maybe slightly under two
A suitcase fits there
Or three or four
Stacked on top of one another
My wife and I get the front seats
My two kids get the middle buckets seats
On their boosters
The back seat and the space behind those is all we have
To pack with
And they will be full
And my back window will not be useful
As our stuff will be packed to obscure it
The last trip we brought toboggans because Quebec had snow
For a whole day before it rained
And the snow was gone.
Between our front seats we hook up the DVD player
Complete with headphones
So my wife and I can listen to music on the CD player
And our kids can watch Pokeman on the DVD
Probably the best car accessory ever made for a parent
Until they sing the theme song at the end
And ruin your music
Which is keeping your mind busy
About how to unpack the car at the next destination.