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Something you realize quickly when you become the owner of a minivan is that everyone who used to own a minivan wants to tell you all about it.
This happens often at gas pumps, but unlike the Americana scene of a guy respectfully admiring another guy’s muscle car, the men who whistle at my 2016 Honda Odyssey are older and wiser.
There is nothing not to like about a minivan except for the fact that it is a minivan. It took a good convincing for me to put one in the driveway. It was my wife’s car, but still one I’d need to drive from time to time. No way did I expect that from day one, I’d never want to drive anything else.
I had my own car, a fantastic Jeep Grand Cherokee, but I still annoyed my wife by how often I ended up with the minivan. Then a few weeks ago, a drunk driver barrel-rolled through my neighbor’s front yard, through a stone wall separating our driveways like he was the Kool-Aid man, and landed on top of my SUV, which at least stopped him from going into our house.
He was completely fine, of course, drunk as he was. But his car was in pieces and my driveway strewn with a takeout tray, the components of a double burger, and a pack of Marlboros. I don’t think he hit the brakes because I slept right through it in the hum of the air conditioner. He ended up sideways, resting against the caved-in back quarter of my Cherokee. By the time my son woke me, the driver was out and arguing with my neighbor, whose yard he’d just excavated, demanding to be let into his house to use the bathroom. (That is not how he phrased it.)
Long story short, I haven’t had a car for a bit, and my wife can walk to the school where she works, so I’ve been a full-time minivan guy. Too long, if we’re being honest, or if you’re my wife. All I want is to buy the exact SUV I had, which I need to tow the boat I should never have bought, and for some reason that’s harder than it looks. But what I really want is to stay a full-time minivan guy.
Need to pick up a half-dozen 12-year-old boys? Done. Want to put the bikes in the back? Done. Groceries? Please. How about a full sheet of plywood?
I am a second-generation minivan owner. My father, from the late 80s through the 90s, drove a brown GMC Safari around Southie that had a bench in the middle and only one sliding door and nothing but cargo space in the back, which he’d proven could, if needed, fit 19 kids when the school bus did not show up.
Still, I never saw myself becoming a minivan guy. No one does. Back when I was sitting on the fence about getting one, I read an article by a New York Times car critic, called “You Don’t Drive a Minivan? You Should” (🎁), which explained that he drives practically every new car that comes on the road, and the minivans are the ones he has the hardest time giving back.
Which is where I am now. The insurance money took more than a month to come in, but is finally squared. I’m ready to get my own car again, but I don’t want to leave the minivan life. You wouldn’t believe how much I can cram in there for a day at the beach. Breathtaking displays of overpacking.
Listen to me. I’ve already turned into one of those people who wants to tell you about how they used to have a minivan. Soon I’ll be just another guy at the gas station in a regular car, whistling when a new Toyota Sienna rolls in.
🧩 3 Down: Poetic tributes | ☀️ 81° Summertime warmth
Visa winners and losers: President Trump shocked the business world when he announced that companies hiring H-1B visa holders — high-value, foreign-born labor — will now pay a $100,000 fee. Here’s who will benefit and who may not. (Politico)
ICE Watch: As ICE officers descend on an immigrant-dense neighborhood in Somerville, residents are marshaling resources to collect evidence and keep watch.
Mifepristone review: The FDA is reviewing evidence about the safety and efficacy of the abortion medication, raising concern among abortion supporters that the federal government may put new limits on access. (CNN)
T stops: If you ride the MBTA, make note of these October service suspensions for the Orange and Green lines.
Two to tango: If Tropical Storm Humberto, swirling just north of the Caribbean, hooks up with a system developing nearby in the western Atlantic, they could produce a Fujiwhara effect, a rare phenomenon in which two storms engage in an intense dance, then either merge or go their separate ways. (CBS News)
Coffee to go: Starbucks is closing hundreds of stores in the US, Canada, and Europe and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses on a turnaround. (AP)
Maintaining the legacy: In his first press conference since becoming the Celtics owner, Bill Chisholm said he won’t shake up the front office and praised TD Garden. Meanwhile, Patriots owner Robert Kraft is selling small stakes in that franchise to two investment firms.
The Editorial Board called for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be impeached for a very simple reason: He is endangering America’s health.
Some say the country has been in a dark place before. But columnist Renée Graham points out that this nation has never suffered under a US president who is using all available means to topple American democracy.
Get speedy e-bikes and scooters out of bike lanes, writes guest columnist Paul Basken, where they are a hazard to people who choose the safety, health, and freedom of non-motorized travel.
By Teresa Hanafin
🏠 Nice digs: Four of the 10 best places to live on the East Coast are in New England, according to Travel + Leisure. Hint: One of them is Gloucester.
🏈 Knuckleballs: When the Patriots host the Panthers Sunday, they’ll face a creative placekicker whose side-angle kickoffs, wobbly flights, and crazy bounces are giving opponents fits.
💘 Blind date: Over lobster gnocchi and halibut, he learned that she plays the cello and is an epidemiologist; she discovered that he is an avid poet and writer. Did they match?
😱 Screams on the screen: Creatures, killer cars, and downright nasty witchcraft: Globe critic Odie Henderson makes his horror movie picks.
📺 What to stream: “All of You,” “House of Guinness,” and more new movies and TV shows to watch this weekend.
🌲 Rustic luxury: New Hampshire’s $90 million hotel is finally open. Is the Lake Estate on Winnisquam five-star material?
🏴 Mystic landscape: Rain or shine, the otherworldly magic of the Isle of Skye — a 639-square-mile island in the northwest Scottish Highlands — still captivates.
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin.
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