Monday, June 9, 2008

The Adventures of Frog and Toad

"I do what I'm TOAD!!!" Could mean that the driver considers people who do what they're told to be ridiculous and unintelligent like Toads. Or maybe the driver is a retard who truly believes that toad is how to spell told.

Our cars are extensions of ourselves; they are extensions of our identity. I ask myself: What does my car say about me? I drive a 2002 Silver Toyota Camry. It looks normal and common on the outside, but the inside is an absolute mess. (Soda cans, water bottles, Mapquest maps to the bank and the food store.) What does this say about me? I look relatively normal on the outside but the inside of me is messy. I won't alter who I am to make other people feel comfortable. (Wait, there are soda cans in your foot space!? God Forbid!)

I drive a Camry not because I think it is the best car ever, but because my dad was buying me the car and he wouldn't let me get anything smaller (for safety reasons.) If I could drive anything... I might be up for a red and white mini cooper convertible. Do they even make those? Obviously, there are other factors beyond conscious self-expression that go into the car selection process. When you drive a BMW you are saying "I have money." But if you are poor, you drive whatever you can afford.

Similarly, what we put on our cars is a type of self-expression. My car has a license plate holder that says I am an alumni of my university. And then I have a white outline of my university letters on the top of my back windshield. I only put these on my car after I moved out of state. When we moved here, I suddenly missed my school, and I even identified more with it. When I see other people here with stickers or plates from my school it makes me smile. I think: Those are my people!

As far as personalized license plates go, or those bumper stickers that say tons of stuff, have you noticed that those people are the ones who just CANNOT SHUT UP? Obviously, if you can't shut up in real life, you will most likely feel the need to use your car to tell other drivers your very important message that will change their lives.

In other news, I bought a tank of gas today. I got the cheapest they had. It was over four dollars a gallon. The cost of one tank: $66.91, I remember when I could fill up for about 10 or 12 dollars. I hated my life then, but gas was cheaper.

3 comments:

Novella said...

The increasing price of gas terrifies me, and I don't even own a car anymore. I definitely feel it's effect though, with the price of plane tickets going up and car services charging more. The MTA recently increased Metrocard prices. My month-long unlimited ride Metrocard went from $76 to $81, which considering I would probably spend way more than that filling up a car with gas doesn't seem like too bad of a deal. When I factor in money spent on cabs and car services though, it's a pretty significant amount of money. Since my new place is so close to the subway, I'm really trying to only take the train or buses when I go places. The buses are all electric, so that's pretty awesome.

Rikki said...

"I hated my life then, but gas was cheaper." Hahaha.

Fermi said...

Novella: WOW, that is expensive, but I guess Brooklyn is much more accessible by train than my city is. My city has a limited rail station, but with my student discount I can get a monthly pass for $30.