what's with "truck culture" in this country?
granted there is always the phrase of phallic insecurity, "the lager the truck the smaller the dick." but how small is a small dick? and how come there seem to be so many?
after all, only a poor workman blames his tool(s)… to the skilled craftsman a screwdriver is a screwdriver, regardless of its age or size - if it still functions, it can get the job done...
but besides that, what's the point of an extended cab double wide v-8?
how many of these owners actually use the combination of towing capacity and off-road capability to the limit of which is advertised?
sure there is the socially constructed perception of re-sale value…
but why the need to buy a new truck every few years?
If a $1000, 15 yr old, 4 cylinder, real wheel drive, oriental pick-up that gets 25 MPG can haul the same 600 lbs of tools and supplies from Home Depot to the job site just as well $50,000, brand new, 8 cylinder, AWD, Detroit made (from mostly now Chinese manufactured parts), that gets 9 MPG… what the fuck is the point of the latter?
Ahhh, yes the old American standard of expenditure over efficiency. I don't mean efficiency in the sense of how fast something can be constructed but how something can be made in the most sustainable way - the least overall input (initial cost & lifetime cost - fuel, repair, etc) balanced by the greatest overall output (longevity, durability as well as functionality)…
Someday I hope that arithmetic will be taught in our schools, but until then we will have to suffer from raccoon logic - grab onto the shiniest thing you see and never let go.
granted there is always the phrase of phallic insecurity, "the lager the truck the smaller the dick." but how small is a small dick? and how come there seem to be so many?
after all, only a poor workman blames his tool(s)… to the skilled craftsman a screwdriver is a screwdriver, regardless of its age or size - if it still functions, it can get the job done...
how many of these owners actually use the combination of towing capacity and off-road capability to the limit of which is advertised?
sure there is the socially constructed perception of re-sale value…
but why the need to buy a new truck every few years?
If a $1000, 15 yr old, 4 cylinder, real wheel drive, oriental pick-up that gets 25 MPG can haul the same 600 lbs of tools and supplies from Home Depot to the job site just as well $50,000, brand new, 8 cylinder, AWD, Detroit made (from mostly now Chinese manufactured parts), that gets 9 MPG… what the fuck is the point of the latter?
Ahhh, yes the old American standard of expenditure over efficiency. I don't mean efficiency in the sense of how fast something can be constructed but how something can be made in the most sustainable way - the least overall input (initial cost & lifetime cost - fuel, repair, etc) balanced by the greatest overall output (longevity, durability as well as functionality)…
Someday I hope that arithmetic will be taught in our schools, but until then we will have to suffer from raccoon logic - grab onto the shiniest thing you see and never let go.
Interesting subject. While listening to my favorite talk radio station, Edmonton's 630 CHED the other day, I heard an ad for a truck accessory supplier that went something like this:
ReplyDelete"So you just spent fifty thousand bucks on your brand new truck and nobody even seems to notice it because it looks like every other truck on the road! Don't drive a cookie-cutter, drive on over to the pros at..."
Here in The People's Republic of Albertistan, otherwise known as "Oil Country," it's not uncommon to see young adults behind the dash of extraordinarily fancy, fully accessorized puke-up trucks. On some of these units, the cost of the wheels alone would get you a ten-year-old Volvo in decent shape.
I'm thinking, that much like young couples locking into a 40-year mortgage for a $320,000 condo across from the local scrapyard, it boils down to horniness. It's mostly a peacock type thing- something to give you an edge over the slightly better looking, more charming competitor who's after the same three remaining single hot girls who didn't go off the college.
All that aside, the big modern pickups with luxurious interiors do offer practicality and utility without compromising a very comfortable ride. In a big puke-up, you get a superior vantage point on the highway. If you're willing to blow $12,000 by driving a brand-new $40,000 Dodge RAM off the dealership lot just to make a statement or get laid, all the power to you.