Local Man Confounds Experts

As may be the case with other listeners, I often keep just one ear tuned to "Car Talk" on Saturday mornings. Part of me even agrees with those who find the Magliazzi brothers a tad self-appreciative. Still, I will miss their broadcasts when the show resorts to reruns some time this fall and the famous pair retires to...re-tire?

So it was with amazement and delight that, this morning, I heard a confident and articulate baritone who identified himself as "Andy from Middletown, CT." Non-fans of Click and Clack often complain that the brothers, though frequently effusive and flirtatious with female callers, offer short shrift to men. Not so, today, when the mere mention of Middletown brought a query about the caller's connection to Wesleyan University.

After a fair amount of sparring determined that the caller might have once taught Classics to a Click and Clack scion, the actual reason for the call was finally revealed. What, Andy wanted to know, was the safer course: to drive with doors locked or with doors unlocked? And, as is often the case, a marital disagreement was involved: Andy was pro-locking, while his spouse was opposed.

To the amazement of perhaps only me, the brothers had no opinions, no facts, not even a factoid, on this important subject. Confounded, they resorted to denouncing car manufacturers, such as Chrysler, who provide automatic locking when the car begins to move, but no unlocking when the engine is turned off.

A further digression involved the question of safety from intruders who might open the car door at a stop light and steal one's purse -- or briefcase, in this instance. Andy, stalwart Middletonian, asserted that this sort of thing doesn't happen in our fair city.

The hemming and hawing continued with the suggestion that seat belts are more important than door locks in keeping passengers from being flung from a car during an accident. Alas, the discussion ended with what my husband and I have done vis-à-vis many car-related discussions over the years: let the driver of the car rule. This fairly weak conclusion made me wonder, how about just letting each passenger choose for him or herself? After all, each door does have its own lock...