From Tim F. at Balloon Juice, this paean to the willful stupidity of the American middle class.
I don’t feel particularly smug when I stand next to my Honda Fit watching some SUV owner near tears as she puts more than $100 of gas into a car she doesn’t need. It just feels sad to think about how long it’s been since it became obvious to anyone who cared to look that we won’t be able to scare off problems like fuel scarcity and climate change by closing our eyes and wishing.
I'm afraid I'm not nearly that compassionate. I happen to live in a neighborhood (in the city, mind you) in which SUVs damn near outnumber people. No one in that neighorhood actually needs an SUV (does anyone?). I developed some firm opinions about SUVs and the people who drive them after almost being run down by a woman driving an SUV with three kids in the back who slowed down for a stop sign and then, when I started across the intersection on my bike, sped up to get across. I managed to stop literally six inches from her car; she took her face away from her cell phone long enough to mouth "I'm so sorry!" at me as she continued across the intersection. No, she never stopped.
My response was to mouth back at her "You stupid bitch."
I suppose if you were smart enough to know how to handle an SUV, you wouldn't buy one to begin with.
$8 a gallon? Bring it on!
And I want to be standing there when you try to sell it.
Webb's figures show wholesale prices on big SUVs such as Chevrolet Tahoes, Ford Expeditions and Toyota Sequoias are down 17% from a year ago. Full-size pickups have fallen as much as 15%, Webb says.
"It's a challenge," says Adam Lee, president of the Lee Auto Malls dealerships in Maine. "How do you tell a good customer, 'You paid $32,000 and now it's only worth $17,000?' "
OK -- how?
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