Maureen Dowd, "Still Getting Wolf Whistles at 50": In Love With a Mustang? I Prefer Dogs!

Sometimes you get lucky. In 1981, when reversing my 1970 Mercury Cougar (a Mustang knock-off) out of a driveway, I hit the brakes, and my foot went down to the floor without resistance. A tree prevented me from rolling into a gully, but I knew it was time to say goodbye, notwithstanding its 351 Cleveland V-8 Engine, sequential tail lights and all the personal history that went with the car.

In her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Still Getting Wolf Whistles at 50" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/dowd-still-getting-wolf-whistles-at-50.html?ref=maureendowd&_r=0), Maureen Dowd tells of her ’65 Mustang convertible:

"IT’S weird to be jealous of your car.

But I am.

Men look at my car with such naked lust, their eyes devouring the curves and chrome, that I often feel as though I’m intruding on an intimate moment. Women like it, too. They sometimes grin and give it a thumbs up as it growls by, and one girlfriend fondly refers to it as 'the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Goddess car.'"

Naked lust for a car? Not me. I prefer dogs.

But as I swiftly approach my 60th and my eyebrows turn white, wouldn't it be nice, just once more, to feel the foolish power and freedom afforded by youth?