Horrible/Adorable
Cars suck. They really do. They take up so much space and time and energy and they KILL PEOPLE. I'm sick of feeling defensive about being car-free. Not having a car (on purpose, I mean, not because you just lost your license or can't afford* a car) isn't a personal virtue. It's a way of living that is good for everybody. It's good for me. I walk two miles a day as a minimum (and boy howdy do I need to burn those calories). I chat with my family members as I walk and on the bus, without having to concentrate on driving. It's good for you. I'm not polluting. It's good for Portland. For every $1 I don't spend on gas/insurance/etc., about $.70 goes into the local economy.** And don't forget the fact that I'm gentle on the infrastructure, saving the taxpayers' maintenance money.
Portland is a weird place. Being here, and in an urban planning degree program, I find that I'm defensive about my transportation in a totally new way. In Portland, the people with whom I spend my days generally think car-free-ness is admirable. But I have to be defensive about the fact that I don't bike.In Portland, people who don't bike are losers.*** A helmet and battered bike bag are status symbols in Portland. A bus pass, not so much.
That's about all I have to say about that. In other news, Skipper is so adorable that it kind of hurts my teeth. Dutch is possibly possessed by demons, and has been behaving like that kid you sometimes see in public who is so horribly awful that you shake your head in horror and feel a pang of pity and contempt for that horrible child's parents, who are obviously incompetent or neglectful, and are definitely horrible. Dutch obviously sees that Skipper is adorable, and I expect that's one of her demons. Also, she wants us to buy a car.
* Okay, I can't afford a car. But it's also by choice!
** According to Joe Cortwright. I don't know enough about economics to even begin to assess that claim.
*** Utilitarian biking, that is. People who bike for recreation are also losers.
Portland is a weird place. Being here, and in an urban planning degree program, I find that I'm defensive about my transportation in a totally new way. In Portland, the people with whom I spend my days generally think car-free-ness is admirable. But I have to be defensive about the fact that I don't bike.In Portland, people who don't bike are losers.*** A helmet and battered bike bag are status symbols in Portland. A bus pass, not so much.
That's about all I have to say about that. In other news, Skipper is so adorable that it kind of hurts my teeth. Dutch is possibly possessed by demons, and has been behaving like that kid you sometimes see in public who is so horribly awful that you shake your head in horror and feel a pang of pity and contempt for that horrible child's parents, who are obviously incompetent or neglectful, and are definitely horrible. Dutch obviously sees that Skipper is adorable, and I expect that's one of her demons. Also, she wants us to buy a car.
* Okay, I can't afford a car. But it's also by choice!
** According to Joe Cortwright. I don't know enough about economics to even begin to assess that claim.
*** Utilitarian biking, that is. People who bike for recreation are also losers.
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