A Story of Betrayal

I first met Brian at his wedding 10 years ago. He was, like me, a recent college grad marrying the love of his life, who just so happened to be my wife's best friend since 1st grade.

We instantly hit it off. He was an incredible golfer and I, well... I enjoyed playing golf with an incredible golfer. We both shared a passion for sports. He mostly Golf, Ohio State football and... later on... an unfortunate bond to NASCAR. I, on the other hand, loved Golf as well and (as has been well documented) a die-hard Redskins fan.

He was a Republican, as I was...and we both considered naming our first born daughter Reagan (we just happened to beat them to the punch). We spent countless hours talking about politics, golf, our families while our wives talked about.... well... I'm not real sure what women talk about when they get together.

Over the last 10 years our families, have had some memorable times together. We camped at Lake Tygart in West Virginia where Brian and Lisa (his wife) had an impressive aray of virtually every camping item Walmart made available (seriously... I mean their tent had a porch and they even had the sandwich maker). On that same trip, we visited a nearby "water park" that advertised a water "slide".... certainly they meant "slides" plural, we thought. But, sure enough, it was just one "slide"... singular. But we had a great time, nonetheless. Other vacations together, took us to such locations as Daytona Beach, Disney World, Virginia Beach and Charleston.

One memorable trip to their house took us to the Licking County Ice Cream (yes, licking) festival. We envisioned hundreds of varieties of ice cream flavors and festivities galore. Instead there were about 3 varieties of ice cream (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla) and something called "Roller Girl".... who we were very excited to see because in our mind's eye we pictured a dynamic talent that would do back flips and stunts on roller skates and we would cheer and chant for more, more, more! Instead, we got a 40 year old overweight woman in tights who skated around the parking lot. Yet, the bond of kinship between us was so tight that we had a great time nonetheless... and I thought it would last a lifetime.

One other crucial detail we had in common was our love for Fords. Over the last decade, Kelly and I have only owned Ford's (except for a brief tango with a VW Beetle) and I will always remain a committed "Ford" man. May God strike me down should I ever waver in my commitment. God, Home, Country and Ford... that's the way I see it... And Brian did as well. Over that same time period, Brian and his wife have owned no less than 12 Ford vehicles (they buy cars about as frequently as we buy toothpaste... about once a month). We would talk about our Ford's together. He would marvel at "Black Thunder" and how reliable it was. And I would ask him with excitement about his Explorer, his Focus, his Mercury (make no mistake... A Ford Product), his Contour, his other Focus, his other Explorer, and his other Focus and other Explorer.

When the time came to get rid of Black Thunder, I welled with pride as I told him its replacement... a 2006 Ford Fusion.

So, when he called me over the weekend and told me he was going out to buy another car... I automatically assumed it would be proud Ford purchase #13. I raved about my Fusion. The smooth accelleration, the improved styling on the interior and the look. I hung up feeling confident I had persuaded him to get the Fusion... After all, the decision was merely between getting a Focus, Fusion or Five-Hundred (now tempo)... I mean... he wouldn't... no.. he couldn't... he would never... ever... in a million years betray our Ford bond... our Ford air-tight, forged in real American Steel Ford bond.... right?

Wrong! He bought a Civic. A CIVIC! Japa - frickin - nese! Unbelievable! The Betrayal!

I'm re-evaluating our friendship.