Three cheers for high gas prices!
Here in Vancouver, gas is up to about $1.50/liter. I can withstand a swift kick to the wallet if it means some North Americans are making positive lifestyle changes.
Case in point: my Dad.
Bo has given up driving this rig to and from work each day:
for this one:
At six-foot-four, my dad is no small fella. In fact, I’ve never known him to drive any vehicle that isn’t capable of hauling a pop-up camper or a trailer full of mulch or a couple of four-wheelers. Despite the very American need to corrolate car size (or perhaps size in general…) with masculinity, my dad seems to have embraced his new ride.
Just last week, his coworkers duct-taped a giant cardboard key to the back window, in an admittedly clever attempt to suggest his little blue Yaris was a wind-up car. But Dad just laughs it off. After all, when they give him sass at the golf course, he can give it right back at the gas pump.
Even the pup loves it!
I’m so proud! Now if we can get all gun-owning, football-tailgating, southwest Virginians to do the same…
(notice Chevy Tahoe is still in carport…perhaps in case of emergency?? one never knows when he might need leather seating for seven.)
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
July 7, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Richman
I can’t believe you actually are buying all this stuff about the atmosphere. You get spoon feed garbage by the likes of Al Gore and company and simply believe and repeat without checking your facts. Your ready to jump down poor Bo’s neck about his SUV and you haven’t even done your own due diligence. You let simple facts like “If we all stopped driving SUV’s right now it would not change enough worldwide to have any effect at all” slide by without notice. Vehicle emissions are such a small factor in this Global problem yet it’s the one everyone attacks. Al Gore has made more money flying around the country in his private jet giving speeches about Global Warming and the effects our cars are having on the planet than he did as vice president. He’s probably caused more pollution jet-setting around then if he’d just stay home and keep his big mouth shut. I think you’ll find once you start using your own mind instead of Al Gore’s that Gun owning, Football loving, tail gating, West Virginians have enough of a spine left to stand for what they believe in and not bend with the prevailing fade of the day. We as Americans will solve the fuel economy problem and continue to drive whatever we want when we want. And as we say in West Virginia, that’s not a threat just simply stating a fact!
July 8, 2008 at 6:25 am
lenmandy
Hi Richman:
Thanks for the enthusiastic comment (and my first comment on this site). I think you’re probably right about the pollution Gore has caused in his jet-setting. This seems to be a real downside of environmental activism, though I’m honestly not well informed on his–or others–transportation preferences. Also, I mean no disservice to Virginians (or West Virginians for that matter) as I am one myself.
My dad’s new car, to me, represents a move toward simplicity and a willingness to break with social expectations. Regardless of the legitimacy of global warming, there is no doubt that oil supplies are diminishing. Using fewer resources and simplifying our unnecessarily complex lives is not always an easy action. For Bo, though, it’s a good one.
mandy
August 17, 2009 at 11:54 am
moto! « these small things
[...] at the lake. I’m even into drinking beer on the patio. But this will make my fourth blog post about transportation. So I guess it turns out I’ve got something to say about [...]