I am not usually the in-you-face shock attack kind of person but too many people still remain oblivious to what some of us believe is quite obvious.
The world as it is does not coincide with the way so many people feel the way the world is. In other words, take off your selfish-tinted glasses and see what the world really looks like.
I go to meetings about transportation because transportation is something that is important to everyone. Transportation is something which we get very wrong.
Okay, so, if I haven’t already lost your attention, I am going to tell you some other things that you, or other people you know, get really wrong.
Myth: Large vehicles keep you safe. The is false. As a late friend of mine said after being in an accident with his Toyota SUV, “When you hit something, you hit harder.” It is true. If you have ever slid off the road at nearly 70mph, like I have, you know what it is liked to be tossed around in the plastic can that is the cabin of modern cars. Andy and I were very lucky when this happened to us because when we slid off the road, we hit the bottom of the ditch backwards. The seats cushioned us and despite the speed, the airbags did not deploy. I am happy that I did not have to experience that.
I look at these huge monsters that so many people drive around and hope that they never hit anyone either. Now, you may not know this, but I have already been hit by two cars. Lucky for me, they were both small cars and traveling at low speeds. I can also count some of the near misses I have had, mostly with people driving SUVs or jacked-up 4x4 trucks. One of these near-misses was when I was cycling up to a controlled intersection and someone decided that they did not want to stop at the red light. They took the right turn lane, went around the stopped cars who were waiting, and then took the turn lane to get back on the road to go the direction they were going. It just so happens that the maneuver was more than illegal, it was exceptionally dangerous for themselves, other drivers and myself, who was in that second turn lane for a brief moment.
Larger vehicles also use more resources, which still are mostly dug out of the ground by underpaid and under-appreciated workers. These vehicles also use more energy, no matter if it gets that energy from gasoline, diesel or electricity. They all have a price. They also tend to be noiser. People complain about freeway noise, or the loud motorcycle that roars to life at 4 a.m. as they’re trying to get an extra two hours of sleep in the morning, then they get up and fire up their own noise machine on the way to work. People badger cities to build sound walls to combat the noise, which do work well, until you are on the traffic side of the wall and have to roll up your windows because you can’t hear yourself think. The sound has to go somewhere.
One of the largest vehicles that we use is the airplane. Airplanes are highly inefficient, and even when they are burning bio-fuels, they still create a lot of pollution, noise, heat and exhaust. If you call yourself environmentally minded, you should seriously consider other travel plans.
I am not against travel but if you are going to travel, actually go somewhere. Don’t just go to some sterilized resort that’s specially built for people like you and staffed by people who don’t make as much money as you, but otherwise are more like you than you want to believe. I’m not going to go some place to lay on a beach or kiss a rock (which you’re not allowed to do anymore anway, and besides, ick.) If I’m going someplace, I want to meet the people, eat the food, hear the stories. So, think about it, if you took a plane to Hawaii, or went on some expensive cruise, I don’t care to hear about it.
About a month ago, I talked with a man who sailed, with his brother, a 42-foot sailboat across the Atlantic to Europe. Now, that sounds like a vacation to me.
Of course, I could go on much more because I feel that there a lot that people get wrong, such as children, voting, rampant consumerism, and so much else.
I wrote this because I needed to write something and this was on my mind. I want people to think about the costs of their actions. The costs go far beyond financial. If you want to brag about how you flew to the Bahamas to drink sangria on the beach, do it while you’re in the Bahamas, the bartender is likely underpaid to listen to you.