7/23/05; by Ruth Zaslow
Field Interviews
Note: below, Smithco is the employer's pseudonym.
A mini-van and a PT Cruiser convertible.
- How did you decide on these cars?
The mini-van was a company car that the company sold me really cheap. It was a great deal. The PT Cruiser we bought because it's a convertible, because it's fun.
You know, it's a convertible. It's fun to drive. You can feel the speed, feel the weather. Except on a day like today when it's 100 degrees out, that's not always great.
The PT is my wife's. The van is mine. I drive it to work, haul the family around, on family vacation.
- Tell me a little about using the van for work.
I have a home office and drive the van to visit studios all over.
Yeah. I'm the territory manager for Smithco Portrait Studios.
- How large is your territory?
From Kansas City to Oaklahoma City, 350, maybe 400 miles. I drive sometimes and sometimes fly.
- When you drive, are they day trips? Overnight?
Usually overnight.
- On your typical overnight driving trip, what happens for you inside the van? I'm interested not so much in the making-the-car-go actions, but in other things you're doing.
I'm on the phone. I work. I listen to music. I look at the scenery.
- Tell me about being on the phone.
It's usually for work. Occasionally, the wife and kids.
- Do you make the calls? Receive the calls?
About half and half. All total, I'm on the phone about 30% of the time I'm in the car.
- Do you do other kinds of work when you're driving or in the car?
I have a laptop with me. I don't use it when I drive, but after I visit a studio, I might write up the basics of a report.
- Are you sending that report out while you're on the trip?
Sometimes. Sometimes, I'll finish it up at the hotel and email it out. Usually, I have to do more research-things that make more sense to do when I'm back at home.
- You mentioned that you listen to music. What do you listen to?
It depends on my mood. Blues, rockabilly, what you might call alternative.
- So what you listen to depends on your mood. Does your mood relate to the car and to driving?
Hmmm . . . I never thought about that . . . . it does. Like in the evening, when I'm driving home, I'll listen to something more mellow. In the morning, I'll listen to something wilder.
- So when you listen to this music is the music on CD? The radio? Something else?
CD's, usually.
- You mentioned “usually.” What else other than CD's?
The radio, sometimes. I listen to Sportstalk, regular talk, or whatever strikes my fancy for music.
- Any other kind of music in the car?
You mean like an I-pod? No. Not right now, at least.
- Not right now? Will that change soon?
Well . . . a friend of mine was in the car with me the other week. He plugged his I-pod in and the music was amazing!
- What were you listening to?
Various songs. I don't recall the individual ones.
- I've heard that it's sometimes hard to get an I-pod to work in the car. How was that for you?
No problems. He plugged it into the cigarette lighter and the music came out through the speakers. I don't know all the technical details.
- Imagine you got the I-pod. How do you see yourself using it? I'm thinking of the whole process here, getting the music, listening to the music.
I'd download from my music catalogue and the internet.
Yeah. I have quite a few CD's. About 100 upstairs at home. The same number downstairs. Then ten or so in each car.
- How do you organize your catalogue?
I don't. It's not organized at all. But I do keep al the titles facing outwards, so I can see what's what.
- Do you use maps or navigation systems?
Navigation systems?
No, no GPS. I know my way around the territory. For family trips, we might use an atlas.
- Let's talk about the family trips. Tell me about those.
You know, we take road trips. South Carolina to visit my parents. Also day trips to surrounding cities.
- Let's talk about the day trips. What goes on inside the car on a typical day trip?
Talking, singing, goofing, lots of laughing.
If I'm officially still on work, I do. I'll take calls.
- Do you use the phone for non-work related calls on the road trips?
Not usually. Sometimes my wife or one of the kids might need to make arrangements for later in the day or weekend-like a sleepover for our daughter at her friend's, but that's about it.
They get along pretty well with each other, so it's mostly the singing and goofing like I said before.
- Are you listening to music? As a family? Individually?
Sometimes one or the other of the kids will bring their CD player in the car. But not usually. On really long trips, like when we went to South Carolina, we brought a portable TV/DVD player that the kids watched in the car.
- How do you decide when to bring the TV/DVD player and when not to?
Hmm . . . I don't know. It's not a regular thing. I guess if we're going on trips of ten hours of more. (laughter)
- How do the kids decide on what to watch?
They each bring a DVD they want to watch. Anything more than that, watching TV, they have to agree on with no arguments. Otherwise it's turned off and not turned back on.
- How else do you use the portable DVD player?
At home, the kids each get a choice of movie once a week. So they trade back and forth with one watching on the TV in the family room, and one watching on the portable.
- Let's talk about your history with cars. What was your first car?
A Dodge Dart. I shared it with my sister, who is a year older.
- Let's go back in your history a bit more. What memories do you have about the cars your family had when you were a kid?
I remember we had a Chevy wagon. Then we had a series of Buicks.
- What's your happiest childhood memory related to cars?
Definitely summer vacations. We'd drive to the beach; it was about three or four hours away. We couldn't wait to get there. About half an hour into the ride, my sister and I would be asking: “Are we there yet?” and ready to play with our beach toys. When we were really little, we were each allowed to have one in the car with us.
- What else were you and your sister doing in the car?
Oh, having snacks, talking about what we'd do when we got to the beach, when we were a certain age, betting each other who could run into the water fastest, deepest, you know.
- Was there music in the car on these drives?
Not that I remember.
- Let's talk more about your own cars. Can you recall all the cars you've owned?
A Dodge Dart. A 63 Buick Special. A '72 MG. Then, company cars: a Celebrity wagon and two mini vans. That last one is the car I own right now.
- The '72 MG is quite different from the Buick. What about that change?
The MG? I got it 'cause it was a fun car. It was like driving a go-cart. The Buick was nice in a different way-big, old, cool.
- You know, before when I told you about the cars I owned, I didn't include the cars that my wife drives. I think of those as her cars, even though I pay for them. She's driven a Grand Prix, a Satrun 4'door, a Dodge Intrepid, and a Dodge Stratus. And now the PT Cruiser.
- Is the PT Cruiser your newest car?
Yes. We've had it only two months.
- How did you decide on the PT Cruiser vs. any other car?
Two things: looks and
Consumer Reports.
- When you say “looks” . . .
We liked the way it looked. We'd seen it around. We knew we wanted a convertible. Then we say it and we knew that was it. It looked right. It felt right and my wife liked it.
Yeah. I don't know how to describe it other than that. It just felt right.
We go to the Auto Show every year. We saw it there.
- Let's talk about the future. Imagine it's ten years from now. What would you like to see as standard on a car that's not standard now?
Less reliant on fossil fuel. You know, we looked at a hybrid for this latest car.
- What made you decide against a hybrid this time around?
Availability: there was a long waiting list. Also, longevity and reliability. We don't know yet how they'll perform long term.
- What else would you like to see as standard on cars?
Oh, I don't know. A lot of my ideas aren't very practical.
- Let's put practicality aside. What would you like to see as standard, practicality aside?
OK, I'd like to see the road system automated. You know, where you don't have to do the driving. Some system that completely guides your car. You don't have to drive and you don't have to worry about accidents.
- You've talked about how much you like to drive the PT Cruiser. Would you miss that if the roads were automated?
We should automate the highways. The backroads wouldn't be automated. That's where it's the most fun to drive the Cruiser.
- If the roads were automated and you didn't have to give your attention to driving, how would you spend your time in the car?
I'd relax. I'd like it to be like sitting in my living room. I'd like to talk, goof with the kids.
- And if you were driving for your work, and the kids weren't in the car?
Part of the time I'd like to relax like I said, and part of the time, I'd be on the phone. No, wait . . . for work, I'd probably spend most of my time on the phone. I'd change how I schedule my day and make all my calls then, rather than from at home. Yeah. Then, when I was home, more time for the kids.
