Re: Meat Prices Going Up

wff_ng_7 wrote:

"Dave Bugg" <davebugg2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

http://tinyurl.com/2zm2hn

I thought this political cartoon that appeared in the Washington Post
yesterday was very appropriate:

http://tinyurl.com/2jc6ve

I rather resent having my food prices go up so some *** can commute 50
miles each way to work alone in his monster SUV.

While some PYVs have have their big SUV for no good reason, they
represent a pretty small percentage of the users. The underlying reason
you see a lot of solo commuters in big SUVs is actually purely economic.
A lot of people actually need the large vehicle for other activities and
the added cost in taxes, maintenance and insurance for a second small
vehicle that would be used for commuting and groceries is vastly higher
than the potential gas savings.

Not everyone can afford to throw money away to make an eco-social
statement, nor are they willing to throw away their personal activities.
I did the math a while back when I was commuting and found that getting
a small car to use for commuting instead of my big truck would cost me
something like $1,500 a year more in extra taxes, maintenance and
insurance vs. just using the truck for everything and that figure didn't
even include the cost of that extra vehicle.


Maybe I'm a bit sensitive to this issue this week... a woman driving a Ford
Expedition she couldn't handle backed into my sister-in-law's Honda causing
a few thousand dollars damage earlier this week.

I'm afraid this issue is very widespread and has nothing to do with the
vehicle. I've witnessed the exact same type of issues with people
driving very small cars. The issue isn't too big a vehicle for the
person to handle which should be obvious due to the vehicle controls and
effort required to operate them being pretty much identical across the
entire spectrum of consumer autos. The issue is a total lack of spatial
skills.

More and more children are growing up with fewer and fewer opportunities
to develop critical spatial skills. Kids who don't have a yard to play
in and can't go to a park because their parents aren't able to take them
for whatever reason. Kids who can't play outside because of high crime
areas. Kids who get to do little other than watch TV and play video
games.

Play time with activities like LEGOs, erector sets, outdoor play with
tree climbing, rock hopping, bike riding and similar physical activities
have a big impact on development of spatial skills. Without developing
these spatial skills early on, these future drivers don't have the
skills to be aware of their vehicles extents and judge clearance
distances properly.

I've seen this issue once with someone in one of the tiny Geo Metros who
had a heck of a time fitting it into a parking space twice it's size. I
see it constantly with drivers of average size cars who have to make a 6
point maneuver to back their car out of a parking space where it could
easily be backed out in a single maneuver.

I once watched someone in a Ford Excursion try to get it into a parking
space for nearly 10 minutes before finally giving up and moving on, the
exact same parking space where after I stopped laughing I pulled my
truck which is larger in both length and width up to and backed into
with a 10 second 3 point maneuver.

Oh, and to stay relevant to the food theme, the same factors that are
preventing development of spatial skills are also some of the big ones
behind the obesity epidemic.

Pete C.
.