A couple of posts ago, I invited you to play a game, “Cout the SUVs and Minivans”. On Monday I forgot to count; yesterday, on my way to work I counted 19 vehicles and 18 of them had only 1 passenger. Today, returning from lunch, I began counting again and discovered 2 out of 11 vehicles had more than one passenger.

Some of the reasons I’ve heard to justify driving big gas guzzlers are:  1) I have to drive my kids to school; 2) I haul things; 3) It snows a lot and I feel more secure with a big 4-wheel drive vehicle; 4) If it works for the military, it works for me (Hello! Have you noticed their Hummers are old, decrepit, and break down regularly???); 5) I don’t want to be hurt in a car crash.

I confess I owned a “I have to take my son to school-mobile” 10 years ago. I even knew back then that the public reason made no sense—I had one child to transport! Also, unless my child was the progeny of the Jolly Green Giant or King Kong, he could probably fit in most regular sized cars. Last, I must have had a really good reason to trade in my Saab convertible for a Toyota 4-Runner, right?

So, here are some truths behind the given reasons for owning a gas guzzler: 1) I want to fit in (i.e. “keep up with the Jones” syndrome—guilty as charged!); 2) I am independently wealthy and have no care about the cost of fuel; 3) I will be dead before the damage to our environment is felt (i.e. the “I am selfish” syndrome); 4) I am a multiple spouse in a pluralistic community and have to schlep 20 kids at a time.