I don't know if I believe that Sam knows dick about cars. You'd think that John would've taught him something.
I think that John and Caleb and one or two other of John's friends taught Dean about cars and Dean loved it, especially because he remembers (just barely) before Mary died when John owned the garage and remembers John coming home smelling like grease and remembers going to the garage with John and learning about cars, so he's always loved cars and loved learning about them as a kid. By the time he was able to drive, he was also able to fix any problem that arose on the Impala (and most other types of cars), and just generally loves being around them. He loves being able to put things together and knowing how to repair something that's broken, and he loves working with his hands and his body, loves piecing things together.
Sam, on the other hand, has never been quite as interested in cars. At least, when he was a young kid he wasn't too interested. John left it to Dean to teach him about some of that kind of practical stuff - John taught Sam about hunting and about the importance of knowing his demons and ghosts and Latin and mythology and such, and they spent many hours together discussing old urban legends and ghost stories while Sam was growing up, but the regular, real-life stuff he left up to Dean (though probably unconsciously. Dean was just better at communicating with Sam, especially when it came to that kind of stuff). So Dean taught Sam about how to pick a lock and how to talk to girls and how to make meatloaf and how to treat a hangover, and all that kind of stuff.
And he tried for a while to teach Sam how to work with cars, but everytime they sat out by the Impala and Dean started pointing out different parts of the car and how they fit together and what connects with what to do what, Sam would sit in the grass with a book at Dean's feet next to the car and didn't pay much attention, just nodded occasionally along with whatever Dean said. He really wasn't interested in cars - especially as he was still too young to drive (even with a fake license) - as long as they run, he didn't care much. Dad and Dean were there to take care of it anytime the car had any trouble.
And Dean realized after a while that Sam wasn't interested at all in the car and wasn't impressed with his (Dean's) knowledge of cars, and though he'd never admit it, he always felt kind of bad that Sam didn't really care about the things Dean was interested in, and that he wasn't into books and research and school the way Sam was, and after a while he stopped offering to teach Sam about the car. When Sam got a bit older and started using the car a bit (when Dean let him), he started asking Dean to teach him things about it, hung around when Dean work on it, asked about what he was doing when Dean tinkered with things. But Dean brushed him off, told Sam not to tough his car, asked if he wouldn't rather be studying something or other instead, joked about Sam breaking the car if he came anywhere near any of its parts. And really, Dean, of course, was covering up for how disappointed he was that Sam never liked a lot of the things that were important to Dean, and how scared he was that Sam was pullng away from him and that Sam might someday leave him.
So he continued teaching Sam about stuff like how to start a fire without a match and how to talk your way out of a speeding ticket and how to play pool, but kept the stuff like cars and mechanics and fixing things - some of the stuff (outside of hunting) that is really important to him - to himeself, afraid to be disappointed by Sam's lack of interest in the things that he loves.
And Sam just always figured that Dean didn't want him touching his car.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2007-11-17 07:42 am (UTC)I think that John and Caleb and one or two other of John's friends taught Dean about cars and Dean loved it, especially because he remembers (just barely) before Mary died when John owned the garage and remembers John coming home smelling like grease and remembers going to the garage with John and learning about cars, so he's always loved cars and loved learning about them as a kid. By the time he was able to drive, he was also able to fix any problem that arose on the Impala (and most other types of cars), and just generally loves being around them. He loves being able to put things together and knowing how to repair something that's broken, and he loves working with his hands and his body, loves piecing things together.
Sam, on the other hand, has never been quite as interested in cars. At least, when he was a young kid he wasn't too interested. John left it to Dean to teach him about some of that kind of practical stuff - John taught Sam about hunting and about the importance of knowing his demons and ghosts and Latin and mythology and such, and they spent many hours together discussing old urban legends and ghost stories while Sam was growing up, but the regular, real-life stuff he left up to Dean (though probably unconsciously. Dean was just better at communicating with Sam, especially when it came to that kind of stuff). So Dean taught Sam about how to pick a lock and how to talk to girls and how to make meatloaf and how to treat a hangover, and all that kind of stuff.
And he tried for a while to teach Sam how to work with cars, but everytime they sat out by the Impala and Dean started pointing out different parts of the car and how they fit together and what connects with what to do what, Sam would sit in the grass with a book at Dean's feet next to the car and didn't pay much attention, just nodded occasionally along with whatever Dean said. He really wasn't interested in cars - especially as he was still too young to drive (even with a fake license) - as long as they run, he didn't care much. Dad and Dean were there to take care of it anytime the car had any trouble.
And Dean realized after a while that Sam wasn't interested at all in the car and wasn't impressed with his (Dean's) knowledge of cars, and though he'd never admit it, he always felt kind of bad that Sam didn't really care about the things Dean was interested in, and that he wasn't into books and research and school the way Sam was, and after a while he stopped offering to teach Sam about the car. When Sam got a bit older and started using the car a bit (when Dean let him), he started asking Dean to teach him things about it, hung around when Dean work on it, asked about what he was doing when Dean tinkered with things. But Dean brushed him off, told Sam not to tough his car, asked if he wouldn't rather be studying something or other instead, joked about Sam breaking the car if he came anywhere near any of its parts. And really, Dean, of course, was covering up for how disappointed he was that Sam never liked a lot of the things that were important to Dean, and how scared he was that Sam was pullng away from him and that Sam might someday leave him.
So he continued teaching Sam about stuff like how to start a fire without a match and how to talk your way out of a speeding ticket and how to play pool, but kept the stuff like cars and mechanics and fixing things - some of the stuff (outside of hunting) that is really important to him - to himeself, afraid to be disappointed by Sam's lack of interest in the things that he loves.
And Sam just always figured that Dean didn't want him touching his car.