I've been without a car basically for the last three weeks now. Although I've been able to borrow on the rare occasions I really needed one or catch rides to work with people headed in that same general direction, other than that I don't really do much. I live over a mile from the nearest bus stop, my bicycle has problems again, and even yesterday it was 104F in Vegas which means you walk only as far as necessary, so I haven't really done much in the past few weeks besides vegetate or work on my car.
At least for Westies, Cars are freedom. We live in sprawling metropolitan areas and commute sometimes 20 miles to work in areas with inefficient and inconvenient mass transit because there's nothing 'mass' about a valley even with 2 million people when they are spread over 600 square miles. Even with smaller cities, there are vast swaths of nothing between cities, and the cities are not laid out to make things convenient. Without a bike or car, it is basically at least a mile from my home to any place of interest, and with temperatures over 100F and nobody to accompany me, I'm not going shopping, to tennis, the movies or stargazing by myself if I have to go on foot.
Beyond that, Cars give us options. If I choose to take a few hours off early, I can take off and go up in the mountains on a whim or catch a flick or go out today for lunch even though I brought leftovers. I can shop on the way home or on the way to work, run errands for myself, visit a sick friend, take a road trip, grab flowers for a friend or familiar, or just get out. There is no way I'm going to walk a mile to a park, hit a tennis ball against a wall for an hour, and then walk home when it's over 100F outside, which is true until after sundown in the summers here. I'm not going to pop over to the store for a treat, drive to the edge of town to meet friends or watch meteors, or anything like that after work in the evening. I have a ride, but we go straight home. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
Whenever and wherever we want to go, if we have a car, we go. Nothing is convenient to us. Cars give us options. Cars give us choice. Cars, out west, are a very symbol of freedom. They give us the ability to move about at will, to see and do and experience whatever we choose at times, with people and in places that we chose. That's probably why Westies refuse to buy little put-put smart cars and opt for gas-guzzling SUVs. Our terrain is rough. The distances are great. Outside the confines of the city, it's a forboding landscape, full of adventure. Cars enable us to carry supplies and are themselves one of our survival implements.
Years ago, Chevrolet ran a campaign calling their cars the Heartbeat of America. Take away the car, the combustion engine, and the west as presently constituted will die, as well as many of the people in her. Cars enable us to travel in relative comfort. Cars are convenient. Cars are a privilege, and we will fight for them out west as vehemently as we fight for any other symbol of our freedom. They enable us to pursue happiness. They are part of our America.
At least for Westies, Cars are freedom. We live in sprawling metropolitan areas and commute sometimes 20 miles to work in areas with inefficient and inconvenient mass transit because there's nothing 'mass' about a valley even with 2 million people when they are spread over 600 square miles. Even with smaller cities, there are vast swaths of nothing between cities, and the cities are not laid out to make things convenient. Without a bike or car, it is basically at least a mile from my home to any place of interest, and with temperatures over 100F and nobody to accompany me, I'm not going shopping, to tennis, the movies or stargazing by myself if I have to go on foot.
Beyond that, Cars give us options. If I choose to take a few hours off early, I can take off and go up in the mountains on a whim or catch a flick or go out today for lunch even though I brought leftovers. I can shop on the way home or on the way to work, run errands for myself, visit a sick friend, take a road trip, grab flowers for a friend or familiar, or just get out. There is no way I'm going to walk a mile to a park, hit a tennis ball against a wall for an hour, and then walk home when it's over 100F outside, which is true until after sundown in the summers here. I'm not going to pop over to the store for a treat, drive to the edge of town to meet friends or watch meteors, or anything like that after work in the evening. I have a ride, but we go straight home. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
Whenever and wherever we want to go, if we have a car, we go. Nothing is convenient to us. Cars give us options. Cars give us choice. Cars, out west, are a very symbol of freedom. They give us the ability to move about at will, to see and do and experience whatever we choose at times, with people and in places that we chose. That's probably why Westies refuse to buy little put-put smart cars and opt for gas-guzzling SUVs. Our terrain is rough. The distances are great. Outside the confines of the city, it's a forboding landscape, full of adventure. Cars enable us to carry supplies and are themselves one of our survival implements.
Years ago, Chevrolet ran a campaign calling their cars the Heartbeat of America. Take away the car, the combustion engine, and the west as presently constituted will die, as well as many of the people in her. Cars enable us to travel in relative comfort. Cars are convenient. Cars are a privilege, and we will fight for them out west as vehemently as we fight for any other symbol of our freedom. They enable us to pursue happiness. They are part of our America.
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