Buying SUV sends wrong message to children (Barf)

Bozeman Chronicle ^ | 12/21/03 | Stewart Mitchell

[Caipirabob]

You can blow it out your ear, Stewart Mitchell.

In a place where citizens are compelled to subsidize, in the form of punative insurance rates, freeloading 3rd worlders who make our roads virtual war-zones, I am compelled to buy something my wife and children have a moderate chance of survival in should she come in contact with one of these "road warriors".

But you're entitled to make an @ss out of yourself with these brainless articles. Free country and all.

Please feel free to send your loved ones off on their next journey in perhaps a "Yugo" or perhaps an egg shell with wheels should one not be available.

Oh, and "oil war"? There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. Could it be possible that part of man kind descended from the Ostrich as opposed to the primates? Wonders never cease.

***

Anyway, good post Holly_P. Always good to know what the lunatic fringe is saying and allegedly "thinking" these days. : )

[Dutch Boy]

It teaches a great lesson. If you work hard and are successful you have options in life. One option may be a large vehicle. Another may be a large house. Why is that a bad thing? Why is success to be punished?

[Thebaddog]

The concept of selfishness drives the American way. And it is a good thing. This mope had better find a better village to share his roots and nuts with.

[Tijeras_Slim]

"As a kid I was taught to recognize and respect the intended spirit of rules and not contort the letter of the law for my own purposes."

But when Al Gore said there was "no controlling legal authority" I bet ol' Stewie lapped that kool-aid right up.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Hummers were designed for combat, not commuting...

This nancy boy obviously never tried to make it to work in Boston via the Highway of Death on a weekday morning.

[sunryse]

I am so sick of the tag "oil war". As if saying enough makes it so. Or that's what these jerks are thinking (hoping).

[microgood]

Dear Stewart Mitchell:

Its none of your business.

[Terry Mross]

"Nancy boy". I like that.

Why is it that whose who "don't have" love to go around telling those who "do have" that they "don't need" it?

[Papabear47]

Hey kids we are in a big bad SUV and if some reckless or drunk driver hits us we are going to survive.

[international american]

" Highway of Death "

Which road is that? Just curious.

[GWfan]

Sounds like he is jealous that others have money to burn. Sounds like he wants to control what other people buy.

Like Mom always says, 'the only person you can control is yourself'.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Rte 95 north from Providence, RI, to Boston.

No worse combination than ignorant Mooncussers going 45 in the left lane mixed with crazed demonic Massholes all trying to go a hundred in the right and breakdown lanes.

Just for fun, every once in a while they toss in an illegal alien or a drunk pedestrian dashing across 6 lanes of psychopaths on wheels.

I don't work any more, but still shudder at the thought of the ol morning commute.

[international american]

I moved from Newton Mass to California in 1976. I have never experienced worse drivers than in Boston. My dad commuted to the U.Mass Harbor campus. He had to drive on the Southeast Distressway:)Are they still as rude as 30 years ago?

[medic]

Just another reason to make us want to go buy one. If we could afford it, we'd LOVE to have a Hummer.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

One word, "Hemi". Can you say "Hemi"?

[Savage Beast]

Well, Stewart, one thing you could be teaching children is that such large and well constructed vehicles are much safer and that parents who transport children in them are taking care to keep the children safe.

My wife was hit by three (3) trucks on a interstate in Wyoming--not far from Montana--one from behind and two from the sides as her Suburban spun from the first hit! Had she been in any other vehicle, she would have been killed. As it was, she emerged without a scratch. Since then, I have insisted that she continue to drive such safe vehicles. I recommend them for everyone--especially people who have children.

That, of course, is the first thing that people who drive Hummers, Suburbans, and other well constructed vehicles teach their children and why.

Another thing you could teach them is that the kind of vehicle one drives has nothing to do with the War Agaist Terror that evil terrorists have declared on the United States and that, since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the U.S. by these evil people, Americans have been forced to wage, even though Americans are peace loving and want nothing but peace.

You can also tell them that, though oil is an important consideration inasmuch as it helps keep the United States strong, prosperous, and free, the war being waged in Iraq is defensive and is a necessary part of the War Against Terror--necessary to keep these children safe, necessary to provide a safe, just, free, and prosperous country in which they can live and grow up.

Another thing you can teach them is that sports utility vehicles are fun--that many things are fun and that some of them are expensive. The desire for expensive toys, luxuries, and necessities can be a powerful incentive in leading people to work hard and to be ambitious. Anyone can prosper in the United States. Anyone can get a good education. Anyone can work hard and fulfill his ambitions. If someone wants a Hummer, for example, he or she can have one. Hard work and education are the path. These children can become excited and motivated by using a Hummer as an example of how anyone can fulfill his or her ambitions. Get those children motivated. Tell each of them to follow his bliss. If it's a Hummer--tell them to start making plans right now and not to stop until they fulfill their ambitions.

If the ambition is to teach children, they must, of course, be careful what they teach.

If you cannot teach these things--if you cannot comprehend them--then you should not be teaching children in the first place.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Gotta visit my father-in-law in Attleboro and my daughter in Providence today (Sunday). Thank G-d, I don't have commute I-95 on a weekday.

[Cobra64]

I just asked my wife to put an H2 under the Christmas tree outside.

[LadyDoc]

When I lived in Idaho, we had a large GMC.

This was so I could make it to a delivery even when it snowed.

There were times we had to send a truck out to plow out the surgeon, and then plow open the road so he could come into town, following the snowplow with his jeep.

And once it was so windy, he couldn't make it; they brought in a farmer by snowmobile with a ruptured appendix, and two of us GP's had to take out his appendix in the middle of the night-- since we lived close to the hospital and could make it in.

Outside of Bozeman, you need a high heavy vehicle with 4WD.

Now, If the author lived in NYC, I would agree.