Before I write what’s actually on my mind I need to write a post about something that has been troubling me for a long time. That is: a person’s reason to buy a four by four when they live in the city!
Coming from a small town, with old, narrow streets and where once upon a time it was a shock to see a new car, I grew up giving way to the oncoming driver and with a raised hand would return the thanks bestowed upon me for waiting. Now in the modern age of big wheels and bigger exhausts, I now give way in fear of being squashed.
The modern driver of the modern 4×4 knows no such courtesy. The mentality of the bully in the playground is ingrained upon them as soon as they step up into their seat. Whether it is a trip to the supermarket, to collect their small child from nursery or to pick up the take away from the local kebab house, the term ‘to give way’ might as well be a foreign language. Certainly for some, their eyes are only on the prize of their destination.
The drivers don’t get out of the way for anyone, not noticing the small frail driver of rover metro approaching them in the middle of the road, or the mother and baby half way across the zebra crossing. Their elevated position gives them a sense of kingship, a nobility of power.
I have seen inside the bitterness of this betrayal and have observed the bully many times from the passenger seat. This observation shows at once, that a calm, caring individual soon learns to feed upon the fear of his opposite lower counterpart. Remarks like: ‘What are they going to do?’ ‘They won’t hit me’ (meaning crash into me) ‘I’m twice their size!’ Thus ending any love for their fellow small town driver and simply trampling, in their off road 4×4 city mud, the rules of the road.
But be it a status symbol, keeping up with the Jones’s or just the need to pick on someone, is there a real need for the these big cars in our towns and cities that isn’t completely selfish? Instead, would it not be cheaper for us all to carry placards around saying how much we earn, the size of our manhood and the intense dislike of a certain so and so? At least with Facebook the latter is already achieved.
It would save us money, time, and help save the planet. If only we could make the car companies aware of the monsters they are creating. Surely then they would only sell citron 2cv’s to the entire peace loving world. But until that day, next time you’re face to face with a bully, don’t give in, don’t move, and good luck.
Lights Out 