SUVs are the ultimate symbol of Western consumerism and ignorance.
They generally represent Western fatness- the over-consumption and wastefulness of North American culture.
Anyone that owns a ginormous SUV tends to have a ginormous ego to go with it.
1- They think that since they have this big huge car, they can take up as much space as they want in the parking lot or on the street.
I've seen people with big cars park in the middle of two parking spots, because they're just too important and too effing huge to park in only one single parking spot.
I've also seen people with huge cars stop in the middle of the street in order to pick up or drop off a passenger, because apparently their car is too big to pull over to the side of the road.
2- Apparently no idling by-laws do not apply to them. Especially in school zones where children are playing in school yards or in the middle of a packed street downtown.
I guess since they can afford the honking huge SUV they can afford the gas it takes to idle the thing. Does this mean that they can afford to have their children and grand children live in a purified-air capsule because there is too much smog outside to breathe normally?
3- They tend to be rude drivers, constantly honking and refusing to let other people in. If you've ever been on the DVP during a Friday-afternoon rush in the height of cottaging season, you know that people in SUVs tend to sit in traffic and honk their horn in hopes that the 800 cars in front of them will move faster. And God forbid you need to change lanes- there is no way that a-hole in the SUV is going to let you in because if they can be half a car's length ahead of you, by George they are going to keep that spot.
They also usually have either huge amounts of money (to be able to afford an over-priced and unnecessarily large vehicle) or they have huge amounts of debt (because they couldn't actually afford the over-priced overly-large vehicle but wanted to appear as if they could, and therefore put the SUV on credit and they now have a unnecessarily large debt pile).
But I'm not bitter.
Okay, yes, I am bitter. Very bitter indeed.
But mostly, I don't see the point in owning an SUV- especially in the city.
In a city like Toronto, you don't need a big car that is able to go cross-country. Our roads are generally well taken care of thanks to a tax-system- albeit there are a few pot holes, but even a bicycle can make it over those without many problems.
I suppose if you are an avid camper and you need a big 4X4 that will get you up that mountain's side, then an SUV is a the perfect option.
I also suppose that if you, for some reason, choose to live in the suburbs and you, for some reason, have to work downtown and can't take the subway because you are too far, then a car makes the commute much better. But I mean a car. A nice small or mid-sized sadan that serves it purpose. Better yet, get a nice small or mid-sized hybrid and save gas money and the environment.
But if you live in downtown Toronto, you don't necessarily need a car at all. Although a car does make that grocery run for a family of four waaay easier. So, yes, get a small car with that oh-so-convenient trunk space.
But PLEASE do not get an SUV.
It just makes you into one big giant gaping a-hole.
