To lose two vehicles sounds like carlessness

The definition of a pedestrian, according to a former boss who was married with two adult sons, is a man with three adults in his family and three cars.

Pedestrianism: good for the soul, hard on the soles

I now have another. It’s someone in a household preparing for its escape from Brexit by selling off most of its major possessions: the house, of course, but also the two cars my wife and I used to use. Selling my wife’s took seven weeks so we decided not to wait too long to sell mine. Inevitably, we had an offer, at an attractive price, within days instead of weeks.

What should we do? We’d just spent a little money removing some scratches which I’d managed to put on the car (those pesky columns in car parks, you know). The longer we left on the street (the only place we could park it) the greater the risk that it would suffer further damage.

Besides, would we get as good a price another time?

We went ahead and sold the car. Reducing ourselves to enforced pedestrianism. Much better for health. Much better for the soul. Not so hot if you want to nip out for a bunch of bananas or a pat of butter (at least, one that isn’t beyond its sell-by date, the specialty of our corner shop just up the road).

Still, our aim is to unburden ourselves of possessions that tie us down (and a right-hand drive car is not a particularly useful asset when moving to continental Europe), this is at least one step down that road. Every time we walk down roads where we previously drove, we can be reminded that it’s becoming real, our exit from Brexit. We’re on target for the end of February still.

If we can just close the house sale with as little pain, we’ll have taken a major stride towards our goal.

Still, it does make me think of Oscar Wilde and The Importance of Being Earnest.

To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

To sell one car may be regarded as a judicious step towards freeing oneself of unnecessary bonds. To sell both doesn’t just look, it really is carelessness. At least in our case.