The Internet, Volkswagens, and God.
A few days ago as I was searching the Volkswagen forums, I found a part, THE part, I needed to fix my car. In this post was a brief description of the item, the asking price, a request for text message correspondence, and a phone number with a link to view some hi-res pictures. So, as most would do, I texted this person in the attempt to purchase this part. Never did I expect that the conversation occurring over the next few days would have such a profound impact on my life…
The Volkswagen community was, at one point, full of guys and girls supporting each other in the quest for faster, lower, better looking, better performing automobiles. Sites like vwvortex and fortitude were outlets to buy and sell parts, keep up on what others were doing, read about new products, and have a place in the community. It wasn’t a place for snakes or shit talkers, scammers or drama, at least in the early days. I had trusted fellow dubbers before the PayPal days with my money (snail mailed money orders) on the promise I was going to get the parts they had listed. I trusted people with funds via PayPal for parts they were going to ship from Germany during a visit there. I never got burned.
I continue to have faith in dubbers, especially the dudes (and chicks) that drive the older cars. Quite frankly, if it was made after 1999.5 (Cabrio up to 2003) I’m not interested. There is something about the creaks, rattles, shakes, and sounds of the older cars that just isn’t the same in the new ones. The people that appreciate these cars, I believe, appreciate the others that drive them as well. It’s like an unwritten code of sorts, you just, I don’t know, you just have respect for these people cause you know what they go through to enjoy what they drive. It’s the hours in the garage, the bloody knuckles, the cursing at the price of spark plug wires to enjoy the feeling and sound of that 16v or VR6, cammed 8v or boosted ABA that makes the struggles worth it. There is no replacement. Knowing that the person driving one of these machines was going through the same stuff as you almost automatically brought you closer. There was a common interest, a bond, a love for an automobile that made you brothers.
My conversation started on Tuesday as a pretty basic business deal. The part was available and ready to be shipped and PayPal was the preferred method of payment. I made a joke about the constant lowball offers people put out on vwvortex and that’s when the dynamic of the conversation shifted. He told me why this part was for sale. We swapped some stories about our cars. Laughed a bit about how the “vw scene” has changed so much and just bullshitted about vw stuff. It was the community element of years passed that still existed in the midst of kids spending their parents money on 1.8t GTis. I got tied up working on a car at work and the conversation resumed hours later when I sent PayPal for the part.
He told me he was unable to ship it out that day because the UPS store closed at 8. I wasn’t worried. We both drive b3 passats. I offered to ship a part out I had but didn’t need for the cost of shipping to help his project along. We shared where we lived, traded some pictures of our cars, talked about junkyard finds and wheels, and the history and future of our dubs. I felt like I was talking to one of my friends I’ve known forever from home, only thing is this dude was in North Carolina and we only started talking a few hours ago because of a part on the internet. He assured me he would ship the part out the next day and I was excited to install it in my car over the weekend. We chatted about our cars a bit more and some b4 parts swaps on the b3s and that was it.
The following day he hit me up and asked about a picture of my car I sent. I explained that I had put the car back together after that accident 2 years prior and was driving it every day now. I went about my day as usual expecting to see my shipment in a few days and continuing any conversation once I received the part. And that’s where things changed again…
Around 9 pm I received a text of apology saying that my part would be shipped out the next day as this dude’s sister was in a really bad car accident a few hours before and it didn’t look good. I took a step back as this kid was going through some real shit at that moment and was concerned that he hadn’t shipped out a part like he intended. He was apologizing to me and it just didn’t make any sense. I did what any human would do and told him not to even think of worrying about going to the post office or UPS on my behalf and to do whatever he needed to do to be there to support his family. He thanked me for my kind words and I promised to say a prayer for his sister and him.
But I don’t pray… Well at least I didn’t, conscientiously, until that moment. I never really believed in “God” (the Catholic one, you know, the father of Jesus) growing up, maybe because I didn’t want to, maybe because I didn’t think I needed to, or maybe because I was forced to through CCD, I’m not sure. What I do know, and what I have always known is that there is something greater out there than us. I know my grandparents keep tabs on me and make sure I am doing the right thing. I know that something more powerful, that causes things with no logical explanation to occur, is present in our lives. I’m sure of it. Maybe that is all that God is. A feeling. A state of mind.
I guess God acts in mysterious ways as I received the text this morning from my fellow dubber that his sister did not make it. She had passed away the night before. He thanked me for my prayers, and my patience, and my business. He asked me to save his number so we could keep in touch. He told me he would send my package out immediately. I told him that should be the last thing on his mind. I asked his sister’s name so I could light a candle for her at Mass this weekend. I’m going to go to church. Maybe I need it, but more importantly maybe I need to do it for others. It’s the unexplainable again as my friend (and shop-owner) and I spoke the other day after work about sending prayers out for others. He told me that sometimes it’s necessary to be close to God for the sole reason that other people need you to be. They need your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes more than one could ever realize.
So on Sunday I will go to Mass and listen and maybe start to have a better understanding as to why we are here and do what we do. And to think, two days ago I was just buying a part for my car…
