You Just Never Know

This morning I carpooled to work with the neighbors, yet instead of their own vehicle it was a SMUD vehicle. As one had to leave early yesterday (to take the boy to his baseball game), the other borrowed a SMUD car to take home.

I've clearly mentioned to them before that there are other options available to them to get home without the need for a company car, but this family can't seem to function without multiple cars. They'd be paralyzed without them. Both absolutely refuse to take transit, even if the cost of a light rail/bus ticket is 75% subsidized by SMUD. Both would never consider riding a bike...although, for this I would prolly give an exception as it really is more of an overall lifestyle choice to ride.

In any event, as I was climbing into the passenger seat of this SMUD vehicle my neighbor clearly, clearly signaled her disgust with it -- not with its condition, mind you, but with what kind of car it was.

Not only is the taking home of a vehicle simply for convenience sake something of an abuse of company property, that she'd feel disgusted with driving a Dodge Stratus (horrors!) instead of their Lexus or Yukon was all it took for me to understand how they think. Then I project this out to all Elk Grovians, and my guess is that the vast majority of our residents think like her -- 100% beholden to a private automobile, insiting it be within 100 feet of his/her physical presence under all conditions and at all times, and totally put-off if their back-up rig ain't up to their liking.

I've heard many co-workers over the years say how they'd feel "uncomfortable" without their car there at work. And you know their number one reason excuse. Yes, of course! Safety! This bullshit notion that if something happened to the child, or if something happened to the housal unit, that without their own car they'd be paralyzed, be unable to respond. This same argument was used nine years ago by everyone who claimed that every member of the family needed a cellularized telephone for "safety."

When was the last time you made a cell phone call under the ruse of safety, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. Never. It's just a fucking toy.

"But you just never know..."

Fine. You just keep paying your SMUD bill, too.