Hasn't Anyone Here Heard Of Tough Love?

When I was in high school, I had a friend with a hand-me-down car from his parents. Granted, it was an Audi, but it was an older, high-mileage one. He was lucky, as the rest of us had older beaters (I drove a Renault LeCar) if we had one at all.

One night he decided to drive way too fast (well, many nights he did this) and crashed it going around a curve, breaking its axle. I don't know about you, but if I had been driving recklessly and caused an accident that trashed my car, I would have been grounded, had my license taken away, and told to walk to school from now on. Not my friend. Not only did he keep on driving, his parents bought him a BRAND-NEW SPORTS CAR to replace the old beat-up one he crashed. None of us could understand it. I asked my mom, "So if I total this car, you'll buy me a brand new one? That's how it works?" She wasn't amused. My friend would never really say what transpired in the conversations with his parents that led to this (although my commentor C. in Brooklyn may be able to enlighten us, since it was his younger brother). But I do remember him laughing at our disbelief.

I think you all know where I am going with this.