Car Identity AngstFor three decades or so, I've been making fun of the trope where fathers moan about "mini-vans" and how this symbolizes a change in identity, compared to whatever they were driving before. The classic angst of driving a minivan led to these car designs drifting. The station wagon vanished and the mini-van shrank into the "SUV". Later, station wagons reappeared, but were "crossovers" rather than a van or wagon of any kind, and the testosterone expression was satisfied. I continued to laugh at such people who let their identities be defined by their cars.

[Greg Goss]

For three decades or so, I've been making fun of the trope where
fathers moan about "mini-vans" and how this symbolizes a change in
identity, compared to whatever they were driving before. The classic
angst of driving a minivan led to these car designs drifting. The
station wagon vanished and the mini-van shrank into the "SUV". Later,
station wagons reappeared, but were "crossovers" rather than a van or
wagon of any kind, and the testosterone expression was satisfied. I
continued to laugh at such people who let their identities be defined
by their cars.

Skip forward a few years or decades. My wife's arthritis is
progressing, and she no longer likes the stiff clutch Toyota uses on
their standard transmissions. So we bought an automatic car for her to
use, and I inherited the tall station wagon ("crossover") that she
chose seven years ago.

So we now had too many cars. As a non-mechanic, the 2001 microcar
hybrid that i chose in 2006 was getting a bit too long in the tooth,
so the decision was to buy her an automatic, give me the Matrix, and
get rid of the Insight.

That decision was made in June of 2012. In March, my wife started
nagging me to follow through on the car swap, put her "new" automatic
car on the road and get rid of the spare car. I had suggested that
such a car should be sold either in student summer job season (August)
or in tax rebate season (March/April/May).

So now, the hybrid has been sold. My car is now a tall station wagon.
It is probably my largest car ever. The engine is smaller than the one
in my 71 pickup or the second one in my Escort, but engines are more
efficient now. It has 2/3 of the horsepower of the Tribute, but that
went from being Wendy's to the designated heir without ever being MY
car. All my cars have been either micro-econoboxes or small pickups.
This is a mid-size.

And that bugs me. My identity is wrapped up in being an econobox
driver. "The biggest guy in the room always drives the smallest car."
I don't drive a "tall station wagon midsize car"

So am I as pitiable as those minivan angsty fathers of the eighties?
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

[BillTurlock]

On Wed, 22 May 2013 20:38:06 -0600, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:

...............

>And that bugs me. My identity is wrapped up in being an econobox
>driver. "The biggest guy in the room always drives the smallest car."
>I don't drive a "tall station wagon midsize car"
>
>So am I as pitiable as those minivan angsty fathers of the eighties?

No.

You've re-invented yourself.

You are authorized to like it.

[Tim Wright]

On 5/22/2013 9:38 PM, Greg Goss wrote:

<Major Snipage>

Hands down winner for the longest subject line in recent memory.
--
Trying to understand the behavior of some people is like trying to smell
the color nine.
Tim W

[Tim Wright]

On 5/22/2013 9:38 PM, Greg Goss wrote:

I've never had a "philosophy" for what kind of car I drive. I like to
drive a dependable vehicle which is also comfortable. I don't have any
of my ego tied up in the vehicle I drive. I've never really understood
people that do.

Things change, and sometimes we have to change with them. I bought my
first new car in 1973. I would trade cars every 18 to 24 months, just
cause I wanted something new. Once I got married, that needed to
change. There was a time when money was so tight all I could afford
were cheap used cars from a "buy here, pay here" lot. Once I even had
to take the tires off my wife's car and put them on mine so it would
pass inspection. Then put the good tires back on her car. Mine were
eventually replaced with used tires in better condition than the ones I had.

Things change, and you have to roll with the punches. I guess I'm just
trying to say don't get all hung up on breaking out of your vehicular
stereotype. In the final analysis, it's just a means of getting from
here to there and back again. That's all it needs to do. If other
people don't like what you drive, it's their problem, not yours.

[D.F. Manno]

Think you could make that subject line just a little bit longer?
--
D.F. Manno

[Greg Goss]

D.F. Manno <dfm...@mail.com> wrote:

>Think you could make that subject line just a little bit longer?

The article was written in Facebook and pasted here.

So I pasted it into the wrong place. I'm surprised that there's
anything in the body of the original post. I guess I saw that there
was nothing there after the paste, so pasted it again.

[Greg Goss]

I helped her ex move out back in 2006 or 2007. Everything he owned
fit into one trip of this car. There's a lot of cargo room here.

But it's a lot bigger than I like. And it's a more upright seated
position. I prefer to sit further back and essentially on the floor,
like the gas mileage fiend cars do.

But the car is here, and I hate shopping for cars. So I'll get used
to it.

[bill van]

In article <b05do8...@mid.individual.net>,

I just noticed why Lesmond was complaining about the length of your
subject line. Unintentional, I'm sure.

Having your identity wrapped up in the car you drive seems like a bad
idea to me. They're tools, not expressions of your psyche or ego. But,
go with what is practical. If you don't like what you're driving now,
trade it in for something that feels more comfortable.

bill

[Greg Goss]

bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:

>Having your identity wrapped up in the car you drive seems like a bad
>idea to me. They're tools, not expressions of your psyche or ego.

That's why I've been so sarcastic at the minivan angst trope. So it's
astonishing when I find myself in the same situation. It would be
embarassing if I had any tendency towards embarassment.

[Howard Hail]

Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote in news:b06msr...@mid.individual.net:

> bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>>Having your identity wrapped up in the car you drive seems like a bad
>>idea to me. They're tools, not expressions of your psyche or ego.
>
> That's why I've been so sarcastic at the minivan angst trope. So it's
> astonishing when I find myself in the same situation. It would be
> embarassing if I had any tendency towards embarassment.

A friend of a friend works for a big bank and makes boatloads of money, but
still drives a beat up old Honda that must have 200,000+ miles on it. He's
not cheap, his wife drives a much nicer car, they own a nice place but he
sticks with the old beater. I think it's a tribute to his starving student
days, or a sign that he's not really part of his working world, something
along those lines I've been told.

[Snidely]

Greg Goss scribbled something on Thursday the 5/23/2013:

> bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> Having your identity wrapped up in the car you drive seems like a bad
>> idea to me. They're tools, not expressions of your psyche or ego.

Good tools _are_ expressions of your psyche and/or ego. This
expressiveness is valid in the same way that feeling deep satisfaction
when an article turns out right is valid, or when you find a way to
make clear to your student how to do a particular tai chi move.

> That's why I've been so sarcastic at the minivan angst trope. So it's
> astonishing when I find myself in the same situation. It would be
> embarassing if I had any tendency towards embarassment.

I got a minivan as kind of a "soccer dad" thing. I would rather have
gotten a Cherokee, but the back seat was too crowded. I had the car
well past the time I took my kids places, and it kind of turned into a
travelling closet.

I got an ordinary small sedan when I changed vehicles, which also
suffers from not having passengers in it often enough.

/dps

--
I have always been glad we weren't killed that night. I do not know
any particular reason, but I have always been glad.
_Roughing It_, Mark Twain

[bill van]

In article <mn.bd5d7dd53fb34d9b.127094@snitoo>,

Snidely <snide...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Greg Goss scribbled something on Thursday the 5/23/2013:
> > bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:
> >
> >> Having your identity wrapped up in the car you drive seems like a bad
> >> idea to me. They're tools, not expressions of your psyche or ego.
>
> Good tools _are_ expressions of your psyche and/or ego. This
> expressiveness is valid in the same way that feeling deep satisfaction
> when an article turns out right is valid, or when you find a way to
> make clear to your student how to do a particular tai chi move.

I find it impossible to argue with that, though I might want to explore
its nuances.

>
> > That's why I've been so sarcastic at the minivan angst trope. So it's
> > astonishing when I find myself in the same situation. It would be
> > embarassing if I had any tendency towards embarassment.
>
> I got a minivan as kind of a "soccer dad" thing. I would rather have
> gotten a Cherokee, but the back seat was too crowded. I had the car
> well past the time I took my kids places, and it kind of turned into a
> travelling closet.
>
> I got an ordinary small sedan when I changed vehicles, which also
> suffers from not having passengers in it often enough.
>

Okay, confession time. I've long disliked the SUV phenomenon, figuring
that they're gas-guzzling planet killers that most people don't need.
Now I drive one, albeit a smallish one, a Subaru Forester. It has just
enough space behind the rear seats for a folded-up manual wheelchair,
and the front seats are just high enough that Sue can swivel herself
into the passenger seat without either having to climb, or sitting so
low that getting up again to disembark is difficult. It was a practical
choice.

It's fun to drive. As I've posted previously, I got a standard
transmission, and it's wonderfully zippy in first and second gear, which
is what I mostly use in city driving, and nicely rumbly-throaty near the
top end of second. It's good on the highway too; I finally got to use
fourth gear a few weeks back and had power to spare. And I like being up
high enough that I can see what's happening up ahead most of the time.

But is it an expression of my psyche or ego? That feels like overstating
the case. It's a useful tool, and a pleasure to use. But I don't feel
that it expresses my identity. That's about other things. I think.

bill

[Les Albert]

On Thu, 23 May 2013 23:22:09 -0700, bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca>
wrote:

>Okay, confession time. I've long disliked the SUV phenomenon, figuring
>that they're gas-guzzling planet killers that most people don't need.
>Now I drive one, albeit a smallish one, a Subaru Forester. It has just
>enough space behind the rear seats for a folded-up manual wheelchair,
>and the front seats are just high enough that Sue can swivel herself
>into the passenger seat without either having to climb, or sitting so
>low that getting up again to disembark is difficult. It was a practical
>choice.
>It's fun to drive. As I've posted previously, I got a standard
>transmission, and it's wonderfully zippy in first and second gear, which
>is what I mostly use in city driving, and nicely rumbly-throaty near the
>top end of second. It's good on the highway too; I finally got to use
>fourth gear a few weeks back and had power to spare. And I like being up
>high enough that I can see what's happening up ahead most of the time.
>But is it an expression of my psyche or ego? That feels like overstating
>the case. It's a useful tool, and a pleasure to use. But I don't feel
>that it expresses my identity. That's about other things. I think.

Your waxing rhapsodic over your Subaru, and getting out on the
highway, made me think of one of their best commercials, Ricky and his
Subaru:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxt4mOIra2M

When you get out into the countryside does the call of the wild also
happen with a Subaru Forester?

Les

[bill van]

In article <3v5vp8p4pqv6j7iro...@4ax.com>,

It should. That commercial is for a Subaru Outback, which is lower slung
and probably less of an all-terrain vehicle than the Forester, which
sits higher on its wheels and is slightly shorter. Alas, so far we have
not been serenaded by wildlife, though we've been pooped on by birds a
couple of times.

bill

[John Mc.]

bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:
> In article <3v5vp8p4pqv6j7iro...@4ax.com>,

> It should. That commercial is for a Subaru Outback, which is lower slung
> and probably less of an all-terrain vehicle than the Forester, which
> sits higher on its wheels and is slightly shorter. Alas, so far we have
> not been serenaded by wildlife, though we've been pooped on by birds a
> couple of times.
>

> billgx

I park my truck beneath a large walnut tree. We also have an abundance of
mulberry trees hereabouts. I regularly find my windshield adorned with
some of the most interestingly colored droppings imaginable. There seems
to be one bird in particular who likes to leave me a multi-hued "present"
right in front of the driver's side. Must roost in the same place every
evening. There's nothing when I go to bed but the surprise is there the
next morning.

John Mc.

[Les Albert]

On Fri, 24 May 2013 21:09:19 +0000 (UTC), John Mc. <Jo...@tdcogre.com>
wrote:

>bill van <bil...@delete.shaw.ca> wrote:

>> It should. That commercial is for a Subaru Outback, which is lower slung
>> and probably less of an all-terrain vehicle than the Forester, which
>> sits higher on its wheels and is slightly shorter. Alas, so far we have
>> not been serenaded by wildlife, though we've been pooped on by birds a
>> couple of times.

>I park my truck beneath a large walnut tree. We also have an abundance of
>mulberry trees hereabouts. I regularly find my windshield adorned with
>some of the most interestingly colored droppings imaginable. There seems
>to be one bird in particular who likes to leave me a multi-hued "present"
>right in front of the driver's side. Must roost in the same place every
>evening. There's nothing when I go to bed but the surprise is there the
>next morning.

You are a fortunate person; you are in sync with nature.

Les