American Society: A Series on Observations #1
I am consistently surprised, usually unpleasantly, by small things I observe everyday and I figure that if I never take note of them, they'll just be forgotten. So instead of letting myself float back into ignorance about our most excellent society, I'll start a short, recurring series/list on my blog. 2 things for today:
1) Comment by Obama's Wife: Some of you may have noticed this in the news recently. She said "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my Country..."
Apparently, that's such a horrendously unpatriotic thing to say, according to knit-picky Republicans who have nothing better to complain about. Is it really such a sin to express a sense of overwhelming pride at a historic achievement? Granted, the connotation is there, but:
a) You get the gist of her statement, shut up already.
b) And so what if this was the biggest thing in her life so far? What has Clinton or Bush done that was nearly a social revolution?
c) *Sarcasm* That was such an egregious statement, clearly Obama will bring an unpatriotic witch into office with him. Oh noes!
My take: I am rather disgusted that something so innocuous merits headlines in major news, and attack by trigger-happy politicians.
2) So I'm driving into work today, and what doth mine eyes behold? A Hummer pulled over by a cop. Aside from the fact that it's good riddance, there was another thing found an amusing juxtaposition. Let me give you a bit of background.
When a cop pulls someone over, standard procedure is that he pull up behind the vehicle in question and veer slightly to the left. In that way, the nose of the cruiser just out into traffic slightly, forcing people to give the officer some room when he approaches he vehicle on foot. In this case, the Hummer was so fat, the police cruiser, aligned diagonally, was still diminutive compared to the width alone of the Hummer. Hell, it didn't even stick out past the edge of the Hummer much.
Why do people have to drive such fat and ridiculous cars, I ask? Are they planning on conquering the trails of the Appalachian? Or just navigating potholes on the Parkway? Because I guarantee you, the "Rockiest" thing most people will traverse here is "Rockaway." And that hardly merits a gas-slurping, toaster on wheels.
• If you want to burn gas, Ford has you covered.
• Need room? Borrow your mom's minivan.
• Need mileage with style? Get a motorcycle. Yep, because they're small, they can easily top 50 miles per gallon.
Oh yea, and what is this "luxury" business? I REALLY don't see what's so special about shelling out 70 thousand for a high-end car when I'd sooner go for a pimped-out Prius and have just about the same ride at half the price? I'd personally go for gadgetry over ass-warmers that come standard and automatic parallel parking for those of us not brave enough to face New York City streets unaided.
My take: Your choice to drive what you do, but I don't want to hear a thing from you when gas prices come back to bite you. And PLEASE, for the love of mankind, get rid off those annoying Halogen headlights!