xcel
08-25-2006, 05:59 PM
I did poke a little fun at the pretensions of those of us who select "smug" cars and feel superior to those lesser SUV’s. (http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=96343&ntpid=2)
Bill Wineke - Wisconsin State Journal - August 25, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Prius_II_Back_Up_Camera.jpg
I couldn't resist. It has a little camera to show me where I'm backing up and I love gadgets.
You, my faithful readers, have weighed in on my choice of new automobiles and you have rendered your verdict: I am not worthy to drive a Prius.
I just don't have the right attitude, you told me in numerous telephone calls and e-mails. I am insufficiently worried about the environment, global warming and the rise of Arab terrorists. Not only that, I poke fun at those who are.
What happened, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, is I wrote a column earlier this week lamenting the fact that soon after I ordered a hybrid car, the price of gasoline dropped to below $3 a gallon.
I said I wanted at least a few weeks of high gasoline prices so I could feel superior to the little people who have to drive normal autos.
I have to admit, I did also poke a little fun at the pretensions of those of us who select "smug" cars and feel superior to those lesser beings in sport-utility vehicles. And, I guess, I did suggest there might be something a little odd about the U.S. government giving me a tax break so I could purchase a foreign auto.
My fellow hybrid owners, by and large, were not amused.
Many, many of them wrote to inform me that hybrid autos have very few exhaust emissions, that they decrease our dependence on foreign oil and that American insistence on driving SUVs is one of the reasons we went to war in Iraq.
The friendlier correspondents suggest I might like to write another column pointing those things out and, also, that I really ought to sell my wife's American-made SUV. The less friendly suggest I just cancel delivery of my new car and let it be sold to someone who deserves it and won't make fun of it.
I have to confess that my correspondents are right.
I ordered my new car for all the wrong reasons, the wrong reasons being mainly that it has a little camera to show me where I'm backing up, that it has automatic climate control and heated mirrors, and that it even tells me when my tires need inflating.
I couldn't resist. I love gadgets. I originally wanted to buy a Honda Element, another weird auto, but gave up the quest when my wife asked me whether I'd actually be happy in a car without heated leather seats.
To be honest, saving the planet didn't enter my considerations at all.
Because, if I wanted to save the planet, I wouldn't be driving 20 miles to work each day; I would live close enough to walk. Nor would I air-condition my house and ... well, you know what I mean.
I would be a far better human being if I liked luxury a little less and simplicity a little more.
But I'm not a far better human being. I'm an American, one who extols simplicity but practices excess. I am perfectly willing to save the planet, but not if it means giving up a gadget.
I realize that many of you actually are good human beings who really do care about the planet and I admire you for that. I really do.
But you might want to lighten up just a bit. Given American tastes, five years from now we may all be back in SUVs, scorning the little battery cars.
Bill Wineke - Wisconsin State Journal - August 25, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Prius_II_Back_Up_Camera.jpg
I couldn't resist. It has a little camera to show me where I'm backing up and I love gadgets.
You, my faithful readers, have weighed in on my choice of new automobiles and you have rendered your verdict: I am not worthy to drive a Prius.
I just don't have the right attitude, you told me in numerous telephone calls and e-mails. I am insufficiently worried about the environment, global warming and the rise of Arab terrorists. Not only that, I poke fun at those who are.
What happened, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, is I wrote a column earlier this week lamenting the fact that soon after I ordered a hybrid car, the price of gasoline dropped to below $3 a gallon.
I said I wanted at least a few weeks of high gasoline prices so I could feel superior to the little people who have to drive normal autos.
I have to admit, I did also poke a little fun at the pretensions of those of us who select "smug" cars and feel superior to those lesser beings in sport-utility vehicles. And, I guess, I did suggest there might be something a little odd about the U.S. government giving me a tax break so I could purchase a foreign auto.
My fellow hybrid owners, by and large, were not amused.
Many, many of them wrote to inform me that hybrid autos have very few exhaust emissions, that they decrease our dependence on foreign oil and that American insistence on driving SUVs is one of the reasons we went to war in Iraq.
The friendlier correspondents suggest I might like to write another column pointing those things out and, also, that I really ought to sell my wife's American-made SUV. The less friendly suggest I just cancel delivery of my new car and let it be sold to someone who deserves it and won't make fun of it.
I have to confess that my correspondents are right.
I ordered my new car for all the wrong reasons, the wrong reasons being mainly that it has a little camera to show me where I'm backing up, that it has automatic climate control and heated mirrors, and that it even tells me when my tires need inflating.
I couldn't resist. I love gadgets. I originally wanted to buy a Honda Element, another weird auto, but gave up the quest when my wife asked me whether I'd actually be happy in a car without heated leather seats.
To be honest, saving the planet didn't enter my considerations at all.
Because, if I wanted to save the planet, I wouldn't be driving 20 miles to work each day; I would live close enough to walk. Nor would I air-condition my house and ... well, you know what I mean.
I would be a far better human being if I liked luxury a little less and simplicity a little more.
But I'm not a far better human being. I'm an American, one who extols simplicity but practices excess. I am perfectly willing to save the planet, but not if it means giving up a gadget.
I realize that many of you actually are good human beings who really do care about the planet and I admire you for that. I really do.
But you might want to lighten up just a bit. Given American tastes, five years from now we may all be back in SUVs, scorning the little battery cars.