SUVs.
Why do so many people get so bent out of shape about
SUVs? I mean, I know several otherwise
rational people who will go off into a fit of apoplectic rage that would make
Louis Black proud whenever they encounter an SUV on the road. What gives? So yes, I believe global warming is both real and
man-made; yes, I believe our dependence on foreign oil has lead us into a
quagmire in the middle east; and yes, I believe that someday in the
not-as-distant-as-we-would-like future we will start to run dry. Thus, I can understand why some people
might be irked by the sight of someone sitting alone in an empty Expedition
in parking-lot interstate traffic. But I suspect that more often than not people buy the
bigger SUVs because they intend to haul around a bunch of stuff or a bunch of
people (or both), not just to burn gas with reckless abandon. I mean, come on – it’s
expensive to keep those monsters running, and they can’t be all that
fun to drive (let alone park). OK, so maybe I’m a little sensitive because I drive
a baby SUV (a Jeep Cherokee) and it doesn’t get particularly good
mileage. But you don’t see
people throwing eggs at eighteen wheelers, right? I don’t see how telling someone “You
can’t drive a car like that, ever,”
is a rational response. Clearly an Expedition
is not the right vehicle for a single person with a sixty-mile daily commute. By the same token, a Mini-Cooper is not the
right car for a family of five, a farmer who needs to transport feed, or a
gigging musician with a drum kit and a PA.
So dial back the sanctimony, folks. Truce, okay? Or else I’ll run you down with my
gas-guzzling Jeep. |