#92 A WOMAN'S BRIEFS -- NEEDS. April 23, 2026

Let me start with David to whom I have been married since the U.S. launched its first satellite, Explorer I, and the integrated circuit launched the digital age. David and I are as different as satellites and integrated circuits.

Know this. David means never to buy a new car. He has, more than once, but he means not to. A very nearly new car is fine, but he knows new cars shake off value while the salesperson is still blowing on the contract’s inked signatures; while the new owner puts her foot on the brakes at the edge of the Dealer’s lot before entering the highway headed for home. The last new car we bought was in 2016, when Subaru offered interest-free payments on new cars, and we, rather than Subaru had our cash to invest. We have enjoyed that Outback for nearly ten years. Recently, we Pines climbed into a casual conversation about getting not a new new car, but relatively new used car.

Like David, NASA knows the value of a not brand new vehicle. SpaceX capsules have been used and reused flying to the International Space Station saving a ton of money. Of course it willj show signs of wear. What astronaut wouldn’t notice the burn marks on exterior antennas and structural bolts, or the refurbished critical systems housed in the aft bay, those things exposed to extreme thermal loads or mechanical stress during the last flight. It’s impossible not to notice that navigational tools show signs of having been used before. Then there’s simple stuff like scratches on interior cabin lights, or an ink stain on a crew seat. But hey, it’s a used vehicle.

Just because it’s fun to know, astronauts carry Fisher Space Pens, pens that use nitrogen gas to force thixotropic ink out of a tungsten carbide ballpoint which allows use at any angle, even upside down, with no chance of leakage. I’m guessing it’s the careless use of on board Sharpies that cause crew seat marks. Careless use of Sharpies can cause permanent messes. But this blog is about a car.

David’s interest settled on Subaru’s smallest SUV, the Crosstrek. He began researching nearly new 2025s. I began peeking in windows of any parked Crosstrek I came across. They are everywhere. They are everywhere because they are good cars. I wasn’t impressed.

“That’s no SUV,” I have said (several times)

“It is,” says he.

“There’s no legroom in the backseat.”

“Scooter’s the only thing on the backseat,” said he.

“It’s a sedan, Dave.”

“It’s an SUV, Barb.”

“You couldn’t even carry a broom in that tiny thing,” I said (several times),

Only yesterday did I learn from a friend that the Crosstrek qualifies as an SUV because it does not have an enclosed trunk. With that sort of reasoning, I’ll call a woman’s sandal with a wide ankle strap a boot.

“I just don’t like it, Dave.” I don’t like the look or its compactness. I don’t like the heavy black rubber that rounds every bend on its body. I don’t like the dark interior (there is no option)…../. David was ready for the Crosstrek: the look, the efficiency, the compactness, the price.

I can appreciate its efficiency, and its price.

“It’s great!” David says. “Come on, it’s all we need.” He had done his research. He arranged for Subaru to show us two ever so slightly used Crosstreks. We went shopping. The Subaru salesperson had the two ever-so-slightly-used-technically-SUV-Crosstreks parked in at the dealer’s door. One white, one grey, both with dark grey interiors the color of the sky under which we stood.

“Are there interior color choices?” I asked.

“No”

“Ah. Is it possible to get leather seats rather than cloth?”

“No”

“Ah,” I said. I wiped rain from my face.

For some unremembered reason, David and I immediately disqualified the white car. We drove the grey model, the one David could see parked in our garage. It is a fine little SUV. It’s so hard for me to use that term. It’s like imagining a goldfish thinking itself a Beluga Sturgeon. The car drove very nicely. There was not an inch of headroom for anyone sitting taller than a yardstick; or foot space for a back seat passenger with a shoe size larger than an eight. But who could tell? It was so dark inside, what with a totally dark grey headliner, dash, cloth seats; black steering wheel and black floor mats.

Here’s the story as it progressed. David is abundantly utilitarian. That is, he is readily satisfied with that which is practical, functional, ordinary, and useful. Utility over aesthetic, function over form. He needed something that reminded him of when we drove Pintos. The much safer Crosstrek fit the need.

“Dave,” I said. “I have to do one thing before I agree to this, okay? I turned to our amazingly kind sales rep. “Do you happen to have a used Outback or Forester we could look at?”

Of course he did. He brought one of each.

There is no question but that in that moment, David was like the biblical King Belshazzer who while holding a great feast for himself was confronted by the terrifying appearance of a hand writing on a wall: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uparsin!

“What is it?! What does it say?” the great king cried.

“Outback.” David was pretty sure it said “Outback.” The king’s days, like David’s chance for a Crosstrek, were numbered.

Here’s the other side of the story. I, David’s wife, am deeply affected by form as well as function. Aesthetics matter to me. My needs are met by bird songs in morning darkness, the sound of an ocean wave breaking, the unexpected moment of beauty – like the time Dave had a duet of cellos played from a neighbor’s balcony, a surprise for my birthday.

David began to smile as I opened the driver’s door of a not-quite-new silver Outback after an afternoon in the darkness of a lovely little Crosstrek. I nearly swooned at the soft beauty that met my gaze. “Oh, Dave,” I said, touching the light grey leather seats. His smile was sweet.

Here’s what I thought of as I drove the silver Outback home, the Outback that David is thoroughly enjoying. The beauty of a person with a Utilitarian philosophy (If, like David, he is a good sort of Utilitarian) is the belief that a person’s actions should maximize overall happiness and usefulness for the greatest number. In this case, the number was two.

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