Our cars are old. One has a window that refuses to go down and a skylight that is stuck closed. Another car has a wobbly driver's seat, which seems to render the seat belt irrelevant. The third has all of its dashboard lights on constantly, which has the same effect as the boy who cried wolf. We long ago stopped paying attention. 

These circumstances have prompted our decision to buy a new car. Not a fancy Rav4 like our son, whose mileage in a week is comparable to ours in winter. We are looking for a modest car, from the current decade, which astonishingly to me will have driver assist, a rear camera, and four working windows. How could life be better?

I was considering the warning lights which are illuminated every day. Their original purpose was to alert the driver of conditions that need attention. This is handy information, and can prevent catastrophe. But having become calloused to their message, leaves the car vulnerable. 

There was a woman I once knew whose alerts were pretty frequent. There were complaints from issues as small as the commute home to the expired mayonnaise in her fridge. I stopped listening.  Then it occurred to me that there would be days when the appeal for help would be genuine. She might be on the verge of depression, or a medical crisis. But I would gloss over her. 

Which would not be good. 

I don't have a ready answer for this one. But it does serve to remind me not to bombard the people in my life with flashing pleas for attention.