What is every teenager's dream? The keys to his dad's car. No matter what type of car his father owns, every adolescent wants to drive it. It doesn't matter if the car is a Chevrolet or a Ferrari or even the Sun God's chariot. Phaeton wasn't en exception. After his father Apollo promised him a favor, Phaeton asked him for permission to drive the chariot. Of course, driving the chariot around the world isn't appropriate for young Phaeton, but a promise is a promise. After Apollo reluctantly gave him permission came the warnings. "up in the sky there are the bull and the lion and the scorpion...Don't fly too high...Go slantwise...". Like any other teenager, warnings are gibberish. And just as Apollo predicted, Phaeton does everything wrong. There is nothing Phaeton can do to make things right.
Apart from being a very entertaining story, I connected this story with my father for a couple of reasons. One of them refers to a situation my father lived just like Phaeton. He also wanted the keys to my grandfather's car to drive off to a party in some place. Back then, my grandfather would rather die than let anybody use his car. My father took the car because my grandfather was away, and he didn't do much better than Phaeton. A trucked crashed the car. Luckily, my father survived, but the car's fate was different. My grandfather almost killed my father when he had to pay the bills for the accident.
Apart from crashing a parent's car, the story also reminded me of my father's teachings. In the story, Apollo tells Phaeton that he won't be able to the job, but Phaeton is certain driving the chariot is a walk in the park. I learned from my father that, if he warns me about something, it's for a reason. I don't question my father's warning because I know that he knows more things than I do.
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