RE: [pf] why are people so attached to their cars?! (was Doomy and gloom

At 07:27 6/9/2000 -0700, Diane Fitzsimmons wrote:
> ... My 4yo replied, "In a car!"
>
>...  On Saturday, I accompanied my son on a Scout service project ...
>The volunteers spent a great deal of time turning away drivers.  About a
>fourth of them were plainly irritated at having to find a different route
>out of the neighborhood.  One woman insisted she be allowed to cut through
>the runners, who numbered several hundred and were passing at that spot at
>that point.  The volunteer asked her to go back the other way, and the
>driver threatened to run her down and demanded to see "your permit."  I
>became part of a human blockade to keep this woman from proceeding.  She sat
>there for 20 minutes before finally going ...
>
>When visiting with police and other volunteers afterwards about this
>incident, we learned that such actions plague this run every year.  My 11yo
>son reported similar upset drivers. ...
>
> ... why are people so attached to their cars?!
>
**  Not rhetorical, a real question.

**  I assert pedestrians' rights over (mainly) cars, whenever I can with
reasonable safety (i.e. the car can stop safely or I can step back if the
car doesn't).

** I think car driving gives immense satisfaction, partly because it's a
power trip. Some of that feeling of power comes from expecting no-one to be
in your way, especially those without a ton of metal armour around them -
pedestrians.

**  Just imagine the first knight in full armour wading into a bunch of
ordinary sword-wielding soldiers!

**  Yes, I know the use of a commons requires restraint (the "Tragedy of
the Commons" illustrates this), and some fellow-feeling for the other users
("there, but for the grace of God, go I"), but when you haven't grown up in
a world where everyone walks everywhere, I don't see that empathy for
pedestrians is at all likely. Walking is seen as evidence of second-class;
a "children: get out of my way" situation.

**  My wife and I were walking (80 minutes) to get our weekly groceries,
and had an argument with a young car driver at a traffic circle; I was
going straight across and he was doing a right turn. At one point, after I
had pointed this out, he started to respond "But I've got a car ..."; then
changed to a different argument (about not having to look both left and
right, because it was a traffic circle). I interpreted this as him feeling
"I've joined the big guys now, I don't have to, any longer, move out of
/other/ guys' way!"

**  I really admire someone like Nan who is able to buck all that
self-brain-washing and go /from/ car driving (in Texas, yet!) /to/ walking
and cycling.

David.


(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html#top
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