I dodged a bullet this weekend. We retired my ‘98 Ford Taurus (211,000 great miles) and replaced it with a new-to-us car. At this point in my life, it very easily could have been a mini-van.
Alas, it’s even worse.
Yeah, an SUV.
Technically, the Chrysler Pacifica is a crossover. Which is exactly the sort of thing someone would say when trying to justify owning an SUV. Of course, that’s also the whole point of this blog entry.
In the end, it comes down to this: I need a people-mover and this is as fuel-efficient as most vehicles with third-row seating.
I’ve been carpooling since gas hit the outrageous price of $2 a gallon. Our carpool can have anywhere from two to eight people riding on any particular day; any more than four and my Taurus means someone else has to drive. Seating six means less driving for everyone. And then there are the millions of wee-ones we’re planning on having. After all, we need some way to one-up Jon and Kate Plus 8.
We drove past our local war protesters on Saturday, holding down their usual street corner. The group is made up of living stereotypes: the scruffy hippies and the no-nonsense feminists, all holding their rainbow-colored signs calling for Bush and Cheney’s heads on silver platters. We sympathize with their views on the war, so we honked in support and my passenger flashed a peace sign as we turned the corner.
It wasn’t until driving back several minutes later that I realized our show of support probably evoked mixed feelings, since it came from a carbon-spewing doomsday vehicle. To them, we were just more SOBs in their SUVs.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Welcome to life! As to your question, I’d vote NOT! If you had purchased a Hummer or a Ford Cobra (427 CI, 450+HP, <10mpg) I’d vote yes.
Absolute consistency of walk/talk is very difficult for sons of Adam … and sweeping judgments are rarely useful (though I do them all the time).
As to the protesters, it would be fun to ask them (and you too) if you appreciate the young men who have paid great prices (up to and including their young lives) so we all can have the freedom to protest (and so many other things)! Don’t assume here that I think I know the answer. I really don’t; I just hope they all do because it always amazes - and disheartens me that such promising young lives are cut short! After 911 I certainly would not have bet even a dollar that there would be no more successful terrorist attacks in the US in the next … what’s it been … 7 years!? Why is that … the basically peaceful nature of those groups that Bush has been going after; or the fact that they have been constantly on the defensive with their capacities diminished? Regardless of what you think of this war - minimally I would think that most would agree that as to Hitler (and others at the time) there was at that time an absolute evil on the loose and hell bent on ruling the world in ways that would render peaceful protest something one could only dream about. This point is significant in consistency of walk/talk when it comes to ones position on war - Is it always good (or bad)?
PS - I’d like to drive your Pacifica and frankly I don’t waste a lot of time worrying about what most others think - just what God and perhaps a few significant loved ones (like my brothers and sisters in Christ).
BTW … your “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ link is bad. Don’t know what that might be but was curious. Was disappointed your scruffy hippy link was not to a picture of me and my buds in college.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Funny blog. Don’t tell Gramma B about your plans to best Jon & Kate Plus 8. She’d make sure that you’d never sleep until it was accomplished (and then your millions of children probably wouldn’t let you sleep either.)