When Bargatze was in high school, he asked his parents for a car. The popular kids at school all drove nice cars, and Bargatze was especially jealous of his classmate’s new black Chevy Camaro. Bargatze’s parents got him a used Mazda 626 that he refers to as a “hunk of junk” (39). The stick shift was literally sticky, so Bargatze put a tennis ball over the top of it. Bargatze’s parents taught him how to drive the manual transmission in their church parking lot. Bargatze stalled the car repeatedly, frustrating his parents. Each time the engine died, he says, they went inside the church to say a prayer. Bargatze learned to imitate a teacher at his school, who used both feet—one on the brake and one on the gas pedal to drive. Bargatze continued to drive with both feet for years to come and considers himself a good driver.

Bargatze named his car “Old Blue” to give it personality so his friends would accept it among their much-nicer vehicles. One day, Bargatze accidentally backed into his classmate Brittney’s Saturn. Brittney was a popular cheer leader, and her Saturn was a good car for its time (the late 1990s). Brittney and Bargatze went to speak to Brittney’s father, but Brittney’s father was not angry at all, which Bargatze attributed to Old Blue’s charm.

Driving an old car helped Bargatze build character and appreciate what he had when he was young. Bargatze’s daughter is approaching adolescence, and Bargatze resolves to get her an old car no matter what she says. He also says that the car she drives must have “futuristic safety things that […] have been specially released only to my precious baby girl” (42).

Bargatze struggles more with insignificant decisions than with major decisions in his life. He has no trouble deciding on a payment plan for his house: He writes, “Easy. Whatever my wife says” (45). But he agonizes over which socks to put on each morning. Bargatze stresses the importance of a good sock. He prefers socks that are cushioned and don’t slip down throughout the day. No company has yet created a perfect sock.

Bargatze is also particular about belts and claims he wore the same belt for 20 years. He now switches between two belts in two different shades of brown, which he considers “a real sign of progress” (46). He also prefers to wear only one clothing brand at a time. Bargatze used to wear only Nike and then switched to Puma. He cites this transition as the type of change that he enjoys—“change with a whole bunch of same” (46).

Bargatze liked to play basketball in high school. He was a decent player but was cut from his school team every year (even the year that his dad is the assistant coach). Instead of playing for the school, Bargatze played for his church’s team, which was part of the Nashville Baptist Association, or NBA. The church’s league is surprisingly competitive, but he had the most fun playing when the stakes were low, as when he played by himself in his backyard at his childhood home or in P.E. class with his friends. In one memorable game, his friend, nicknamed “P-P,” scored the winning shot.

As an adult, Bargatze is still friends with P-P, and he still calls him by his nickname even though P-P has a career and family. Bargatze reflects fondly on the basketball games he played with his friends, and on his high school experience in general. He recently donated money to the school, and they named their basketball court after him.

Bargatze and his younger brother, Derek, were competitive with each other growing up. He even jokes that “I’m three years older than Derek, so he was literally born in second place” (59). Their father raised them this way: “Everything was a competition. Everything was a lesson about how tough life was” (60). Initially, Bargatze could win against Derek, but Derek grew up to be taller than Bargatze and a batter athlete.

When Bargatze was 20, for the first time in years, his family spent Thanksgiving with his mom’s side of the family in Kentucky. Bargatze’s family wanted to make a good impression, but the possibility was ruined when Derek and Bargatze argued over who won their game of Spades. Bargatze finally won the argument when he told Derek, “You will never beat me, because I am your older brother, and I am in your head” (65).

A similar incident occurred years later, during a family game of Risk. During the game, Laura and Derek planned to attack Bargatze, but an argument started, and Bargatze called Laura an “idiot.” Bargatze justifies this outburst by explaining that “The roots of ‘idiot’ as a term of endearment go way back in our family” (67). Laura ran out of the room, upset. Derek reprimanded Bargatze for speaking so harshly to his girlfriend. Later that night, Bargatze and Laura made up, but the Bargatze parents prohibit their sons from ever playing Risk together again.