Cars suck
People are driving less. Isn't that cool? Also, people want to be able to walk to stuff. Isn't that smart of them?
My job (part-time, for the last 9 months or so) is to convince people that they should try getting around without their cars. It's a really, really hard job. I'm also hampered by the perception of the people with whom I'm talking that I'm just some crazy Portland hippie, and possibly a socialist. I've learned NOT to tell people that my family of four has been car-free for ten years, because they often immediately decide that I'm a loser. I had thought that I could use that to show people that they can choose to be car-free and still live a full and satisfying life, even with small children. But it turns out that this is not true. People who are successful have cars. If you don't have a car, you're not successful, and therefore not worth listening to.
I also don't usually tell them that putting their kids in a car and driving them somewhere is the most dangerous thing they do with their children. It turns out that people don't like to hear that, either.
Anyway, if you drive in a car, (aka "isolated bubble of death and pollution that people mistakenly associate with success, freedom, and happiness"), you don't get to enjoy stuff like this:
My job (part-time, for the last 9 months or so) is to convince people that they should try getting around without their cars. It's a really, really hard job. I'm also hampered by the perception of the people with whom I'm talking that I'm just some crazy Portland hippie, and possibly a socialist. I've learned NOT to tell people that my family of four has been car-free for ten years, because they often immediately decide that I'm a loser. I had thought that I could use that to show people that they can choose to be car-free and still live a full and satisfying life, even with small children. But it turns out that this is not true. People who are successful have cars. If you don't have a car, you're not successful, and therefore not worth listening to.
I also don't usually tell them that putting their kids in a car and driving them somewhere is the most dangerous thing they do with their children. It turns out that people don't like to hear that, either.
Anyway, if you drive in a car, (aka "isolated bubble of death and pollution that people mistakenly associate with success, freedom, and happiness"), you don't get to enjoy stuff like this:
Comments
love, CM, who is ready to buy a new car (: