Those of us that commute in busy city traffic have a lot of time on our hands. Our minds wander while they idle with the engine. Staring out over the hood of your commuter rig, what is it that you see? Well, it's likely a slow moving river of cars. As a car guy, I spend many of those moments studying the vehicles around me. What model is that and how is it equipped? You can get a doctorate on car classification with a few hours of commuting a day.
After a while your not just looking at the cars. Inevitably, you start to consider the drivers. You wonder who they are and what led them to select the vehicle they spend hours a day in. Perhaps some of those drivers just fell into the car they sit in. Maybe a parent gave them this car long ago as a hand me down. Others may have just seen a great deal and jumped on it. That said, most of these owners, those not renting or driving something provided by an employer, probably made a decision to buy that car based on some criteria. The individual's needs or lifestyle certainly defined the questions underlying. So, is it really a stretch to suggest the car sitting in front of you in traffic says something about it's owner?
Buckle up, here comes the stereotyping.
Let's talk about that minivan that always manages to sit in the pole position at a red light in front of you and accelerates at the same pace as a snail. Forget for a moment that this same van likely has a rear entertainment system tuned to morning cartoons or that the rear window is decorated with a stick figure family. No one buys a minivan for it's hot looks, handling, or luxury accommodations. These vehicles are purchased for three rows of seats, captain's chairs that make it easy to get from front to back without stopping and exiting the vehicle, large storage capacity, and huge sliding side doors. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that anyone that has decided this is the vehicle for them is likely a mom or dad. (Did I just stereotype?) Expect that vehicle to move slowly while it protects it's precious cargo.
Now let's consider a vehicle I see nearly every day as I fight my way into the office, a Chevy Volt. So who do we think drives this contraption? If it was a Prius, I would suggest that it may just be a "me too" purchase decision made by someone who wishes to smugly point out how they are doing the right thing for the environment, fuel consumption, or similar. But this is a Volt. These four door nightmares are ugly, uncomfortable, and uncool on a level that Prius has not yet hit due to the Toyota's widespread celebrity ownership (not that the Prius is cool, it just has a group of followers that think it is). So considering that the Volt is sold more on the principle of it's electronic drive then on it's hybrid nature, this owner must be a real deal eco-terrorist, err, an environmentalist. Think I'm wrong? The one I see has a bumper sticker that says "We know because of evidence." What do you suppose that sticker is trying to say?
Not to be immune to the point I'm drawing here, what do you think my two seat roadster, V10 powered Viper says about me? Clearly I'm not focused on hauling the family to school. Nor am I worried about sipping on gasoline. If you heard that crazy loud exhaust, you wouldn't consider that I'm all that into the environment either. Those humdrum things aside, it says I'm more into the performance and cool of my vehicle then practicality. It says I'm a car guy. Anytime I see another driver flying along in a similar rig it's a moment of comradery. Wonder if the minivan and hybrid owner feels the same way?
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