I admit it...I'm addicted to subway sandwiches.
but at least they're low in fat!!!
well, I just finished my final english essay. it was supposed to be a persuasive essay where you argued something you felt strongly about...so I wrote mine about suvs. ha!!
you can read it here if you wanna:
SUVs: Beezlebubs of the Automotive Hell
When I'm driving around the Seattle area, my day isn't complete until I've been offended by an SUV driver. Sometimes I get cut off by them; other times, they steal my turn at intersections; or on some days, they even speed up to beat me to that last parking spot at the bank. This isn't to say that I don't have wrong done unto me by other drivers in cars that aren't SUVs, because I sure do get my share of obnoxious driving experiences from a wide range of drivers in all kinds of cars. What I can't understand, though, is the particular aura of impurity that's emitted from the typical SUV. The drivers in this town are bad enough-- but are the cars they drive impacting their driving skills (or lack of)?
As a minivan driver, I admit that there is a special feeling that comes from sitting in a seat that's raised so high up. The higher seat is a good advantage to have for seeing past other cars, for parking alignment, and for reaching the cashier at the McDonald's drive-thru without dropping your change all over the curb.
However, having a higher seat means having a larger car. My car is certainly a large vehicle: a 1987 Dodge Grand Minivan that's had some tough love and then some over its sixteen years in this world. Driving a large car, though, usually has its driver assume some kind of power over his or her fellow drivers; a sort of dominance, just because they can see eye-to-eye with passengers on Metro transit busses. I personally don't feel much gratification from driving a large car. Rather, it can be quite the opposite, as I grind my teeth and grip the wheel furiously when the only parking spot left at the doctor's office is a compact.
For some people, though, size matters. I went to school with a girl at Holy Names that was so rich, she drove a Hummer to school. What necessity an army vehicle has to a teenage Catholic school girl, I have no idea. This Hummer, though, would sit in her reserved parking spot each day, sparkling brightly in the sun as girls flocked around it in admiration during lunch period. For this particular girl, though, her affection for the car wasn't anything short of materialistic. During a lunchtime showoff session, she was heard whispering to a friend, "Hey, you don't mess with [insert rich girl's name here], and this car goes to show it; I'm richer than you, so get out of my way." (Insert fiendish vomit-inducing laughter here.)
And if that's not a charming slogan for an SUV commercial, I don't know what is.
Most TV commercials, though, don't address the SUV as a luxury mobile in the ranks of BMW and Mercedes (except for, of course, the BMW and Mercedes SUV models). Cars such as the Land Rover and Ford Explorer are shown soaring down sandy desert plains, splashing across rivers and lakes, and throwing up clouds of dirt while weaving gracefully between forest and mountain trails. Now, back to the real world: who actually does these kind of things in their SUV?
For the amount of money that SUVs cost, it's unlikely that many people would want to drive one out into a pit of mud just to test the anti-lock brakes. Perhaps SUVs would prove useful to people who live in rural areas, though, much like the farmer and his truck. Additionally, they're pretty ideal for weekend camping trips for those of us who are still weaning on Mother Nature's teat. However, judging by these uses, those of the rural citizen's and of the dedicated outdoorsman, the grand total of people who fit into either of these categories is fairly small.
Now, here's a brain teaser: if there aren't nearly as many rural people and nature lovers as there are city folk and Internet addicts, then why are there SUVs all over the most urban areas of the country?!
This is the point that gets me the most worked up. Most, if not all, of the SUVs I see are shinier than God's fingernails and have not a single sign of outdoor activity such as a mud splatter or a branch stuck between a tire. Lord knows the entrepreneurs that drive them don't have time (or interest) to spend their weekends going to some dirty mountain, anyway. They have cell phone antennae, DVD players suspended from the roof, sub woofers, and bumper stickers advertising a .com or boasting about their child's honor roll status. This may not sound like such a bad deal; so what if more and more urban people get their kicks in SUVs? However, it's something that's worth being concerned over-- at least, it is if you care at all about the traffic situation and the future of the roadways not just in Seattle, but across the country.
For one thing, SUVs do not have a respectable reputation as far as safety is concerned. SUVs tip over more than any other model of car on the market. They're easily combustible and are more prone to car fires than other types of cars. Picture the scenario of an SUV being driven out into the naturalistic climate it claims to be built "like a rock" for during a windy day, only to have it tip over and combust upon impact from the coarse mountain ground... oh, the irony.
For the price sticker of certain SUVs, one can purchase a smaller compact car for the same price. Here's a mathematical question: which car would be cheaper?
The answer is the compact. Even if you bought the SUV for half of the compact's sticker price, the amount of gas money spent on an SUV during the entire time it is owned is enough to put a few kids through college. Most SUVs average roughly a mere thirteen miles to the gallon. With the impending war with Iraq, gas prices inevitably will soon cost your first born, and while this is a burden for all of America's drivers, it hits nobody quite as hard as it does SUV drivers.
The price to pay is much more than just money, though. With more than half of the country driving gas-guzzling SUVs, the environment will probably be harmed much more than the roadways and drivers will be. Scientists have been working for centuries to invent the electrical car in hopes of preventing more holes in the O-zone layer, and what happens instead? SUVs have outnumbered any other car on the road ever since the year 2001. Once again, a painful realization that is nonetheless ironic.
Maybe the average American picks the SUV over a Honda Civic because driving an SUV is claimed to be an ego-booster. If being high up off the ground and taking up two lanes on the highway is your thing, that's spectacular for you. However, when the real facts are considered about SUVs, and when their lack of necessity and appropriateness is taken into account, they're really nothing more than environmental murdering, gas gorging, space consuming, useless monsters of the roadways. In keeping with the times, maybe the saying should be changed to, "We're all going to Hell, and I'm driving the SUV-- but it's a Lexus, so wipe your feet first."
in other news, carol (my mount mom) is so sweet. she just sent me a message to say she misses me and hopes I'm doing well... awwwwww!!!!
it makes me wanna go to the mount tomorrow night just to pick her up. but I think tomorrow I'll be out with mollie and maria. hooray!!!
lately, things have required lots of exclamation points.
oops, I mean... exclamation points!!!!!!!
going to go wash now, as I am a dirty, dirty girl. hehe.
maria, call me whenever you can, no matter how late it is. we must play.
well, I just finished my final english essay. it was supposed to be a persuasive essay where you argued something you felt strongly about...so I wrote mine about suvs. ha!!
you can read it here if you wanna:
SUVs: Beezlebubs of the Automotive Hell
When I'm driving around the Seattle area, my day isn't complete until I've been offended by an SUV driver. Sometimes I get cut off by them; other times, they steal my turn at intersections; or on some days, they even speed up to beat me to that last parking spot at the bank. This isn't to say that I don't have wrong done unto me by other drivers in cars that aren't SUVs, because I sure do get my share of obnoxious driving experiences from a wide range of drivers in all kinds of cars. What I can't understand, though, is the particular aura of impurity that's emitted from the typical SUV. The drivers in this town are bad enough-- but are the cars they drive impacting their driving skills (or lack of)?
As a minivan driver, I admit that there is a special feeling that comes from sitting in a seat that's raised so high up. The higher seat is a good advantage to have for seeing past other cars, for parking alignment, and for reaching the cashier at the McDonald's drive-thru without dropping your change all over the curb.
However, having a higher seat means having a larger car. My car is certainly a large vehicle: a 1987 Dodge Grand Minivan that's had some tough love and then some over its sixteen years in this world. Driving a large car, though, usually has its driver assume some kind of power over his or her fellow drivers; a sort of dominance, just because they can see eye-to-eye with passengers on Metro transit busses. I personally don't feel much gratification from driving a large car. Rather, it can be quite the opposite, as I grind my teeth and grip the wheel furiously when the only parking spot left at the doctor's office is a compact.
For some people, though, size matters. I went to school with a girl at Holy Names that was so rich, she drove a Hummer to school. What necessity an army vehicle has to a teenage Catholic school girl, I have no idea. This Hummer, though, would sit in her reserved parking spot each day, sparkling brightly in the sun as girls flocked around it in admiration during lunch period. For this particular girl, though, her affection for the car wasn't anything short of materialistic. During a lunchtime showoff session, she was heard whispering to a friend, "Hey, you don't mess with [insert rich girl's name here], and this car goes to show it; I'm richer than you, so get out of my way." (Insert fiendish vomit-inducing laughter here.)
And if that's not a charming slogan for an SUV commercial, I don't know what is.
Most TV commercials, though, don't address the SUV as a luxury mobile in the ranks of BMW and Mercedes (except for, of course, the BMW and Mercedes SUV models). Cars such as the Land Rover and Ford Explorer are shown soaring down sandy desert plains, splashing across rivers and lakes, and throwing up clouds of dirt while weaving gracefully between forest and mountain trails. Now, back to the real world: who actually does these kind of things in their SUV?
For the amount of money that SUVs cost, it's unlikely that many people would want to drive one out into a pit of mud just to test the anti-lock brakes. Perhaps SUVs would prove useful to people who live in rural areas, though, much like the farmer and his truck. Additionally, they're pretty ideal for weekend camping trips for those of us who are still weaning on Mother Nature's teat. However, judging by these uses, those of the rural citizen's and of the dedicated outdoorsman, the grand total of people who fit into either of these categories is fairly small.
Now, here's a brain teaser: if there aren't nearly as many rural people and nature lovers as there are city folk and Internet addicts, then why are there SUVs all over the most urban areas of the country?!
This is the point that gets me the most worked up. Most, if not all, of the SUVs I see are shinier than God's fingernails and have not a single sign of outdoor activity such as a mud splatter or a branch stuck between a tire. Lord knows the entrepreneurs that drive them don't have time (or interest) to spend their weekends going to some dirty mountain, anyway. They have cell phone antennae, DVD players suspended from the roof, sub woofers, and bumper stickers advertising a .com or boasting about their child's honor roll status. This may not sound like such a bad deal; so what if more and more urban people get their kicks in SUVs? However, it's something that's worth being concerned over-- at least, it is if you care at all about the traffic situation and the future of the roadways not just in Seattle, but across the country.
For one thing, SUVs do not have a respectable reputation as far as safety is concerned. SUVs tip over more than any other model of car on the market. They're easily combustible and are more prone to car fires than other types of cars. Picture the scenario of an SUV being driven out into the naturalistic climate it claims to be built "like a rock" for during a windy day, only to have it tip over and combust upon impact from the coarse mountain ground... oh, the irony.
For the price sticker of certain SUVs, one can purchase a smaller compact car for the same price. Here's a mathematical question: which car would be cheaper?
The answer is the compact. Even if you bought the SUV for half of the compact's sticker price, the amount of gas money spent on an SUV during the entire time it is owned is enough to put a few kids through college. Most SUVs average roughly a mere thirteen miles to the gallon. With the impending war with Iraq, gas prices inevitably will soon cost your first born, and while this is a burden for all of America's drivers, it hits nobody quite as hard as it does SUV drivers.
The price to pay is much more than just money, though. With more than half of the country driving gas-guzzling SUVs, the environment will probably be harmed much more than the roadways and drivers will be. Scientists have been working for centuries to invent the electrical car in hopes of preventing more holes in the O-zone layer, and what happens instead? SUVs have outnumbered any other car on the road ever since the year 2001. Once again, a painful realization that is nonetheless ironic.
Maybe the average American picks the SUV over a Honda Civic because driving an SUV is claimed to be an ego-booster. If being high up off the ground and taking up two lanes on the highway is your thing, that's spectacular for you. However, when the real facts are considered about SUVs, and when their lack of necessity and appropriateness is taken into account, they're really nothing more than environmental murdering, gas gorging, space consuming, useless monsters of the roadways. In keeping with the times, maybe the saying should be changed to, "We're all going to Hell, and I'm driving the SUV-- but it's a Lexus, so wipe your feet first."
in other news, carol (my mount mom) is so sweet. she just sent me a message to say she misses me and hopes I'm doing well... awwwwww!!!!
it makes me wanna go to the mount tomorrow night just to pick her up. but I think tomorrow I'll be out with mollie and maria. hooray!!!
lately, things have required lots of exclamation points.
oops, I mean... exclamation points!!!!!!!
going to go wash now, as I am a dirty, dirty girl. hehe.
maria, call me whenever you can, no matter how late it is. we must play.