Cars Cars Cars

I have had a love/hate relationship with cars for a very long time. As a white male who grew up in southeast Michigan I was invariably engulfed in car culture for my entire youth. Somehow I always felt slightly on the fringe of it, but still in it nonetheless. No, I couldn't tell you exactly what year that Camaro was that just drove by, but I could usually guess to within a year or two. I couldn't tell you how many cylinders that engine had by its sound, but I knew it sounded fucking cool. Cars were (and still are) a requirement if you wanted to have any sort of social life in high school.

Living in a sprawled out rural/suburban mid-western town meant that if you wanted to go anywhere, or do pretty much anything, you drove. Go see a movie? 30 minute drive. Go to the grocery store? 20 minute drive. Go to your nearest good friend's house? 15 minute drive. These might not seem like terrible times in the context of 30-40 minute subway/bus rides. But public transportation is quite a different animal. Your 30 minute train ride means jumping on the train, reading a magazine, chilling out, hopping off, and boom, you're there. Driving to the mall means starting the car, driving the three miles of dirt road to the highway, getting on the interstate, piloting a two ton death machine at 75 mph for about six miles, finding parking, and slogging through the sea of parking over to the front door. Not exactly calming.

Admittedly, my view right now might be a little biased. Back in MI a car meant freedom, It meant independence, it meant not waiting awkwardly in front of Macaroni Grill for Mom to pick up you and your "date" in the mini-van... So cars were good. Once I had my license, I got in to them. I did all my own maintenance on my '89 S-10 not just because I couldn't afford a mechanic, but because working on cars is fun. And driving them can be fun too! It doesn't even have to be doing donuts in the high school parking lot early on a Saturday morning; just getting out on the open road, turning the radio up and pushing the pedal down can be a great feeling. Open Road! America! Apple Pie! Fuck Yeah!

I've found driving to be especially enjoyable since I stopped doing it. I haven't "owned" a car since I was in high school (owned in quotes because I've never actually had a car's title in my name, I always had hand-me-downs). My primary means of transportation has been two-wheeled and human powered for the past 7 years and that has felt great. But, given our nation's relatively young infrastructure and the fact that a hefty portion of our civic planning was done with the scale of the car in mind, occasionally getting behind the wheel tends to be unavoidable. Generally, I've found that to be ok. The times that have necessitated my driving have been mostly bearable and at times bordering on fun, even here in the city!

That is, until recently. You see, lately I have had to do a lot more driving than I'm really accustomed to, and it's getting old fast... My current part time gig working for a cabinet maker in NY requires that I make a decent number of trips to the finisher in Queens, to the job site on the Upper West Side, back to the shop in Williamsburg, etc. etc. Now, the more I drive, the more I realize driving sucks. Maybe it's the traffic in the city, or maybe it's the minimalist accommodations of my boss' F-150; more likely, though, I think it's the fact that I've been spending way too much time driving. It wears me down. At the beginning of a day where I know I have a few trips to make, it's not so bad. Even sitting in traffic I just relax behind the wheel and wait for things to clear up. The more time I spend in the truck, however, the worse my attitude gets.

It's easy to understand why there are so many pricks all over. They probably drive everywhere. Look at the following images and which one puts you in a shit mood:

A.




or B.




Not that B is some stunning vista, but at least the sky is visible! As you may have guessed, these are views from crossing the Williamsburg bridge by car (A) and bike (B). When it comes down to it, it's not even a giant difference. But you definitely get the feeling that you're actually enjoying a beautiful day with image B, rather than rotting away in a steel box. I would have posted a picture of the view from the train, but I'm sure you all can imagine what that is like.

So, needless to say, I'm not a giant fan of cars, yet I still find myself watching Top Gear on Netflix all the time... Maybe cars can be ok in the form of cool toys for grownups, but as a primary means of transportation, they leave a lot to be desired.