Were you in love with your first car?
No. My relationship with my “Bug” was strictly utilitarian. Its attraction was that it could be lifted out of the ditch after sliding off a muddy dirt road by eight men during the rains in Tanzania, as it had to be when I slithered off a bush road on my way to marry.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• We bought a Volvo 544 just before our marriage and it lasted 13 years. Our two young sons cried when we sold what they saw as their most permanent home, since we had lived in nine different residences, driving across Canada eight times. We all loved that car.
David Flynn, London, Ontario, Canada
• At night I dream of my old Chevy, who died 30 years ago. In those dreams I’m driving anxiously because the licence has expired, and also I haven’t refuelled since 1987.
Stephen Warren, Seattle, Washington, US
• Oh yes, passionately! Alas, our affair was short-lived and very exhausting.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• Never. It was only an infatuation.
Sunil Bajaria, London, UK
• I recall love being involved, but I’m not sure that it involved the car.
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
• Yes, along with others before it that I never experienced and many I’ve had or wanted since. Come to think of it, my relationship with cars isn’t the only aspect of my life that has gone down that road.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• Citroën 2CV: had six of them over my life, but had to graduate because of parts and maintenance!
Edward Black, Church Point, Australia
• I loved my tricycle better.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• My first car, a 1950 Chevrolet: definitely not. My current, a 1966 Ford Anglia: madly, passionately. It was my wife’s idea so she’s OK with it.
John Ralston, Mountain View, California, US
I just don’t have the time
Why is it that, as you grow older, your shirt buttons and the zips on your flies seem to get smaller?
As I age, my patience, as well as the time I’m willing to devote to such minutiae of social propriety, is rapidly diminishing. In fact, I’m seriously considering switching to tape fasteners on all my garments to save both time and potential embarrassment.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
• They’re not smaller; they’re just harder to find.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• Deterioration in those fine motor skills we struggled to acquire at the young end of life.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• Because your eyesight is not as you remember it.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• There are zips on my flies? That explains all those sidelong glances.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
It’s right that I use my left
What is most profoundly right about your life?
Certainly not my politics.
Richard Pickering, Christchurch, New Zealand
• Not pretending to be profound.
Amy Gibson, London, UK
• My family – past, present and future.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• The right to live.
Emmanuelle Botté, Sydney, Australia
• That my path has crossed with others who have made my life so very good.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• That I am left-handed.
Annmarie Clarke, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Any answers?
If war keeps being the answer, do we need a better question?
Annie March, West Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Is there anything that everyone can agree on?
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
