This Was Before He Grabbed My Camera And Bent My Thumb And Finger Back
I love the employees at Whole Foods on Wilshire in Santa Monica. It’s the customers who are the problem. This is the Whole Foods where, last year, another guy -- an old dude with a personalized plate -- did a hit-and-run on my car and thought he’d get away with it. Ha. Bad idea. I tracked his ass down, got him prosecuted, and still have to take him to Small Claims with the videotape I have of him hitting my car to sue him for the hours off work I spent bringing him to justice. And then, I’ll write about it, naming names.
Saturday, thinking of the hit-and-run, I was going to park on the street, then I remembered they have those yellow, magnetic grocery cart-stopping lines on the sidewalk, so I grudgingly parked in the underground garage. I took a spot on the end in the corner, parking as close as I could to a metal bar thing on the left of my car and still be able to open my door. I thought twice about parking there, worrying that it would be hard to see to get out, but the spaces were small, and the signs noted the spots were for compacts only, and there was a reasonable-sized white Nissan or something parked next to the spot I was taking.
I had a very pleasant little Whole Foods excursion, thanks to all the employees, who were very friendly and helpful, as always; especially the fabulous cheese lady who found me some really good unpasteurized stuff -- plus the Le Marechal I already love, and an alternative to bland pasteurized camemberts (FDA requirement, sigh).
I smiled at everyone (except the lady on speaker mode on her cell phone), and waited patiently as some woman in front of me had to opt for alternate modes of financing (reminding myself to keep smiling…”I’m an ex-New Yorker, not a New Yorker…I’ll read a magazine…the wait won’t kill me”). La dee dah…I pay…very nice cashier…thank you, thank you…time to go home…smiley, smiley…get in the elevator, get out of the elevator…Hey! Get a load of this assclown:
The signs all over the place say that parking area where he landed his massive boat is for compacts. More signs say "Forward Parking Only/No Backing In." Well, this man (closeup here) is clearly...how shall we say it…special? I'm guessing his mommy raised him to think he was the specialest boy in the whole wide world! How special is he? Soooo special…none of the rules apply to him! Naturally, he parks his gargantuan vehicle head out, and in a compact space. Okay, sure, "compact" is relative. Compared to the U.S.S. Nimitz, or maybe the QEII, his behemoth is quite compact. As I'm rolling my cart to my car I’m fuming that I'm not going to be able to see around his hugemobile to safely get out, the narcissistic asshole.
I point out to him that he's parked in a compacts only space, and add, as he’s blowing me off for saying so, "Hey, I'm wondering if your thoughts turn to Marines getting their legs amputated when you get gas. Naw...probably not." He starts telling me I'm obviously angry and miserable. Actually, no, I told him: I just smiled my way through Whole Foods, and had a lovely visit with the cheese lady.
Next, he tells me I'm "insane." Yawn. "No, I'm quite sane, thanks. Highly rational. And rationally angry. See, I have to drive the car I do because I see faces of 21-year-old kids getting killed in Iraq and I can't drive anything else." And then there’s this Michael E. Ruane Washington Post/MSNBC piece about what happens when they come home alive, but missing a few limbs.
Sure, drive what you gotta drive, dude, but I don't see a lot of steel beams back there suggesting you're a contractor. He then told me I didn't know a thing about him...like whether maybe he needed to drive what he did. I told him I knew plenty about him from how he parked and what he drove. He acts like a classic example of the "the rules are for other people" type I call a “Hollyweasel.”
But, back to the reasons he simply must drive this vast vehicle which he must also park in a space for a compact car: “Okay, I'm willing to listen,” I said to him. “Tell me why you neeeeeed to drive this thing.” Suddenly, he was at a loss for all those great reasons he had moments before. “I’m waiting,” I said. “Go right ahead! I’m listening! Anytime now!”
Well, okay, he wasn’t going to say anything. But, since he apparently felt so proud and right about what he drove, I saw no problem chronicling his pride and moral high ground-itude. I photographed him getting into his vehicle and took a few more snaps. A proud man and his vast wheels! Yes, sirreee! He was motivated to move the thing after I pointed out that I couldn't see to get out of my space (considering his prior flagrant lack of concern about where he parked, I'm guessing he was worried about his liability if I had an accident.) By the way, here’s what reasonable visibility looks like -- the lady who parked there after he moved.
Before he moved his mastodon on wheels, he came over to take photos of me…I guess assuming I'd run from his camera. Nope. I smiled broadly and got down by the Insight hybrid insignia on my car and told him to be sure to get it in. I posed for three or four shots, I think. I'm sure he was disappointed that I was not only taking what I dished out, but seemed rather flattered that he wanted a photographic memory of our time together.
Here's a photo of me taken by my neighbor right after I drove home from Whole Foods. Imposing, aren't I?
But, meanwhile, back in Whole Foods' garage...
Suddenly, the big bully, unable to make me scurry away from his phone's camera lens, resorted to violence: He advanced on me, and grabbed my camera. I held onto it. My boyfriend gave me my camera, and I wasn't about to let some creep take it away from me. The creep, who was probably about 6'4", bent back my thumb and finger. It hurt like hell, and I was scared, but I wasn’t going to let him smash my camera or do whatever he was planning on doing with it. The brute told me while struggling with me -- a skinny redheaded girl in a pink ruffly sweater, hair in a bun, and heels -- that I had to erase my photos. Oh really? No. Fucking. Way. I hung onto my camera. I think I started yelling "Help! Help!" at that point, and he backed off.
I bet he thought he'd blackmail me into erasing my photos of him by taking photos of me that he thought I’d want erased. Yeah, guess what, some of us don’t have to hide our behavior, so we don’t give a shit if you photograph it. Go ahead, put ‘em on the Web, asshole, and then confess how you behaved afterward…which, by the way, is probably on tape –- cameras in Whole Foods’ parking garage, dear. I know, because the last guy who fucked with me (via his hit-and-run on my car) was first photographed by their cameras –- a prelude to his mugshot taken by the cops. Your physical assault on me was also witnessed by a number of people. Bad idea. I could probably press charges. Instead, I think I’ll press HTML. Ashamed of yourself yet? Yeah, I know. Probably not. Work on it.
Amy!
I'm not saying you're wrong. But if your boyfriend has strong feelings about this matter, LISTEN TO HIM, ok?
Crid at May 28, 2006 12:34 AM
You can say I'm wrong. I already told Gregg about this. And truth be told, if it wasn't a pricey westside grocery store parking garage, I wouldn't have been so bold.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 1:05 AM
If it had been east of the 405 or south of Pico, we'd have already scheduled an intervention. Beside, the guy's shirt is your color.
Crid at May 28, 2006 1:17 AM
So what did the witnesses do? Did anyone check to see if you were alright?
deja pseu at May 28, 2006 6:39 AM
That's funny, Crid. I only tussle with people whose clothes complement my appearance. I think consideration is what he most needs to complement his. And Deja, a couple people did ask if I was okay. When my car got hit, however, you see a lady walking by and watching on the tape and doing nothing. I'm betting this guy's a Hollywood guy. Just a guess. Looks, behavior, and he had a SportsClubLA membership swipe thingie on his keychain.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 7:01 AM
Amy, this guy physically assaulted you for taking pictures of him and his car! Seriously, if he can't handle what amounts to a hilariously karmically just practical joke, he needs to be behind bars for behaving like an animal. Apparently, his mommy also taught him that the anti-theft and anti-assault laws in our society didn't apply to him when he got his widdle feewings hurt, and I can't think of a better use for your mad detective skills than tracking this jackass down and tossing him in prison. Maybe a night w/a cellmate named "Bubba" will make this mouth-breather change his tune?
Kim at May 28, 2006 7:11 AM
Heh heh...what's scary is that he has a kid. Amazing that people who have kids don't think whether driving one of these vehicles might connect to their kid not breathing so well in the future.
I'm working on a book now on the disintegration of public manners, and I'm really tired of all the people who think they're too good for the rules or what used to be decorum. There are reasons Whole Foods says those spaces are for compacts only, and I'm guessing it has to do with safety. There's a small lane behind that row of cars and a car of mine can get out just fine if the view isn't blocked. But people come around those corners fast, and if the view is blocked, you either have to have somebody help you back out or take your chances. I've asked people in situations like this before to watch as I back out -- but why should I have to go run and look for somebody to help me leave just because some narcissistic asshole decided he was too big a man to walk seven steps or to be 25 feet further away from the exit?
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 7:30 AM
I'm really tired of all the people who think they're too good for the rules or what used to be decorum.
Hear, hear! I'm so with you there. These "the-rules-are-for-little-people" arseholes are far too ubiquitous these days.
deja pseu at May 28, 2006 8:50 AM
Amy, this is some unsolicited advice, but here goes: PLEASE PRESS CHARGES AGAINST THIS ASSHOLE. He assaults you in public - what do you think he does in private to his kid and his partner? He will only be emboldened by getting away with it.
I can understand totally why you wouldn't want to press charges, but I am too bad at keeping my mouth shut not to say what I just did. I am seething with anger here at this little bitch who thinks it's okay to batter people in public.
Jackie at May 28, 2006 9:12 AM
I'm not sure where the parameters are on that, vis a vis my saying something to him first.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 9:57 AM
Scary. In the few occasions I've been involved in something physical, I've been upset for days. I wish you well.
On a practical note, what is the effect of "pressing HTML?" Do you think this guy will see your blog? If he does, so what? Do you think his wife/boss/kid will see it? There's nothing in it he might Google on, nor is there any reason he should think of doing such a thing. What are your readership stats?
Norman at May 28, 2006 10:50 AM
I told him to look for himself on advicegoddess.com and told him my name -- a couple times. I don't speak up in secret. The guy didn't give me his name -- in fact, he sought to suppress news of his actions. He's free to come here and sing the merits of flouting safety rules, driving vast vehicles, and physicallly attacking women who dare criticize his behavior. Savages resort to violence. This savage appears to have a few dollars to rub together. He's no less a savage because of that.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 11:05 AM
Amy, I'm an attorney in Wa state, and if California law is anything like ours, he should be prosecuted for assault and battery. Nonconsensual touching designed to intimidate and/or injure you. You definitely have and case and should press charges simply to stop this guy. Can you think of what he can do to his kid? And the kid is defenseless entirely.
moe99 at May 28, 2006 1:10 PM
Amy, I am siding with the "press charges" crowd. This thug needs to be told, in no uncertain terms, you cannot put your hands on someone and attempt to wrest their personal property from them. You have the evidence you need, if you just have the video tapes subpoenaed. Although chances are, the store will willingly surrender the tapes.
Had I been in your place, no question this thug would be behind bars within 24 hours. Although, quite frankly, given his slight build and attitude, I'm guessing he wouldn't have attempted such a thing on a man. If the laws are anything like the laws in Florida, I'm guessing a year's probation, a fine and anger management. You owe it to the next woman who decides to do something he doesn't like.
Patrick at May 28, 2006 2:25 PM
I had to pop a Valium just reading that story! You are one tough chick. Just be careful. We live in a very chance-y town. I shudder to think of what might have happened if there'd been a weapon in his car.
Peace, Love, and Lena at May 28, 2006 2:46 PM
At that same hour, half a world away...
http://tinyurl.com/opknq
Crid at May 28, 2006 3:21 PM
You did get his license, I hope? In which case, can't you press charges for assault/attempted theft of your camera -- and also find out his name and info and put it on your blog?
I wouldn't get into political discussions with strangers in parking lots, though, because then they can just say the crazy lady started screaming about marines in Iraq, which distracts from the real point: Parking a huge SUV in a compact space is against the rules for a very good reason -- it's almost impossible to back out safely when one of these things is next to you.
And if you have a camera and want to take pictures, so what? There's no law against that. Good for you and I'll bet that guy thinks twice before he tries it again.
Cathy Seipp at May 28, 2006 3:26 PM
No wait, it was weeks ago.
http://tinyurl.com/rahxx
Maybe Amy's encounter will also spawn a line of underwear, rap mixdowns and schoolyard jargon.
Crid at May 28, 2006 3:27 PM
Thanks, Cathy...and I cannot believe this, but the flash obliterated the license plate. I saw that the photo was clear before I left, but I didn't see that the plate was flashed out. If somebody out there is good with pulling details out of photos, maybe they can read it. I only have iPhoto, which is great, but limited in terms of being able to go in close, etc. Somebody may also identify this guy.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 5:26 PM
I think the district attorney, the judge, jury and possible jailer would laugh this whole situation right out of any respectable courtroom.
Amy, I enjoy your blog and writing, but you are getting into too many altercations. Let things go. Everyone is busy, stressed out and a little crazy nowdays, and you live in an area where there are so many people per square mile that of course toes are going to get stepped on.
Stop photographing people without their permission, and stop implicating people in the deaths of their countrymen because they aren't driving a vehicle you find morally acceptable.
I would bet this is an otherwise decent guy, who unexpectedly found himself in a stressful situation, and now is being labeled a probable wife & child abuser, with no evidence other than a mob mentality to back it up- this is nuts!
eric at May 28, 2006 5:45 PM
Eric adds important perspective.
Crid at May 28, 2006 6:10 PM
See Amy, what you were doing is called "going around and picking fights with people."
Most men learn not to do it after they get beat up a couple of times.
My guess is that you were counting on this guy not doing that 'cause you're a female.
I'm glad to hear that this guy didn't do anything worse than a minor assault, and I hope your thumb is ok.
But at the same time, you ARE begging to get your ass kicked and if you continue with that, eventually, somebody's going to oblige you.
I hope you wise up before then. Really.
thisOneGuy at May 28, 2006 6:28 PM
Thanks for the concern...actually, more often than not, I say nothing. But, frankly, if you're proud of your choices, what's the problem with having other people seeing them? The guy wasn't driving his vehicle under a cloak of invisibility. I don't like these vast vehicles -- they're dangerous to see around, unnecessarily polluting, and are often driven by people who've never even thought of serving in the military to protect our need for foreign oil. I'm not saying people shouldn't drive -- that's silly. I'm saying we should be more responsible and act more like we're members of a community where other people matter -- beyond immediate friends and family.
Amy Alkon at May 28, 2006 7:13 PM
That was a very nice dominatrix collar you were wearing... perhaps that's what scared off your attacker. Glad you are safe, you lovely thing you.
Joe Bailey at May 28, 2006 7:41 PM
to eric
Any man who goes around assaulting strangers for taking photos and verbally humiliating them obviously has control issues. And as a person with such poor impulse control and violent tendencies it is no great leap of the imagination to assume he behaves the same way in private as he does in public. Nor is it any great leap to assume he has a wife if he has a child, or that he would be in close proximity to his wife and child in a private setting,
So you can see how easy it is to assume he is violent with his family if he is violent with strangers – fact is most violent offenders attack close friends and relatives as opposed to people they don’t know
to thisOneGuy
Just because someone is committed to a value like BEING CONSIDERATE TO OTHERS is no reason for another person to attack them.
By the way moron another thing men learn is never hit a woman unless its in self defense, and oh yea – words are NEVER a reason to attack someone
Grow up, get a pair, and stop blaming the actions of a third party based on the words that were spoken to them.
lujlp at May 29, 2006 4:42 AM
What a hoot. Amy is fighting over oil too!
The best way to win a fight is to never get in one.
Had that guy been a gangbanger, your boyfriend would be at the morgue planning your funeral and crying his eyes out. Your murder would have hurt a lot of people.
red river at May 29, 2006 7:07 AM
But, he wasn't a gang-banger, was he? Did he look like a gang-banger?
There are a lot of times I keep quiet, but the world changes because people speak up and take action -- in micro and macro. For example, if people who unnecessarily drive huge vehicles, endangering the rest of us and unnecessarily polluting the air, find that others give them a hard time for what they drive, I'm guessing they'll be a lot less likely to choose the same or similar vehicles in the future.
If people find that others complain when they're shouting into their cellphones or being otherwise anti-social, maybe they won't stop being narcissistic assholes, but maybe they'll consider it too much trouble to shout their conversation indoors.
The micro directly connects to the macro, I believe. If a company chief believes it's wrong to steal on a small scale (for example, by offloading marketing costs onto consumers by telemarketing), that company is a lot less likely to become another Adelphia or Enron.
Stay passive, red river, if your goal in life is to avoid fights or controversy. While I try to take intelligent risks, and sometimes fail, I'm not afraid to tell people when I think they're behaving wrong. Obviously! And take pictures, too.
Amy Alkon at May 29, 2006 7:17 AM
I don't know about California law, but in most juridictions taking property away from somebody by force generally fits the definition of "robbery," which in most if not all places in the US is a felony. In other words, you can get pen time for it. I take a rather dim view of the practice. You should have reported him.
On the other hand, I certainly hope your account of the matter about the assault is accurate. Accusing somebody of a felony when no such thing happened does constitute libel when it appears in writing, in which case you could end up paying for that guy's next SUV.
tcobb at May 29, 2006 7:59 AM
I'm very mindful of the parameters of libel, and careful not to libel anyone, tcobb -- both because I don't want to be sued and because it isn't right. And the whole thing is on tape, I'm assuming, since Whole Foods' garage has video cameras -- which is how I caught my hit-and-run driver, who denied the whole thing. I knew that when I wrote this, and there were witnesses as well.
Amy Alkon at May 29, 2006 8:06 AM
All I meant to say, although perhaps I didn't do it well at all, is that you had better get that evidence and preserve it NOW before the passage of time makes it impossible to do so. I really doubt that someone who is capable of exhibiting the behavior that this guy did toward you would be incapable of perjury if he thought he could get any money out of it. Bullies don't like to be humiliated.
Don't set yourself up for a law suit. That's all I'm saying.
tcobb at May 29, 2006 8:50 AM
My first response was "You GO Girl!!", and I'm glad everything turned out all right. I'm sure that lil jerk is going to think twice next time before he parks his land shark in an inappropriate spot.
I'm sure, also, that you did a pretty good job of sizing up the situation before you attempted a confrontation with this guy.
A pretty good job, though, might not be enough the next time. While I admire your courage, (and your incredibly good luck so far) I'm concerned about you getting into altercations with car thieves and jerks (who could be carrying handguns).
Amy, I live for Thursday mornings, and your column is the highlight of them. In our fairly small city sixty miles N of LA, we have a Farmer's Market. I walk there from my home, pick up my veggies for the week, a Starbucks latte, and a copy of the "Reporter", and I sit down in our little city plaza, enjoying the air and the people. Luckily, your column is WAAAY at the back, so I can linger deliciously over the rest of the paper, and finish it up with the best part. Often, a friend will walk by and sit with me, and I will read some part of your column to them and we will crack up over something you have said.
I tell you this because, even though you have no idea who I am, you, on the other hand, are a little part of my life, however distant.
The thing is, dear Amy, is that it's not just you who is involved, it's your boyfriend, your mom, and even thousands and thousands of people that you dont know, who care about you, even slightly, and who's lives you touch in some small way.
Please, have a care for your person, and do not deprive us of the pleasure of your wit and your humor. Okay?
But, since this particular situation seems to have turned out okay so far, Waytago, Amy!!
Lorraine at May 29, 2006 12:03 PM
Well, whatever the guy supposedly needs his honking big SUV for, it's evidently not for the cargo space, since by backing it up against the wall between two other cars, he's made it impossible to get to the cargo area. And, jeez, he's still wearing Lacoste?
Jurjen at May 29, 2006 4:01 PM
Though I agree with you that people driving such barges are irresponsible morons, it's not a legal crime, just a value judgment. I doubt that any complaint you may file against this guy would hold ground. If he checked your site, he's probably saved your post by now, which clearly indicates that you aggressed him in the first place -- which doesn't excuse his subsequent assault.
Antagonizing people is counterproductive more often than not; persuasion usually yields better results; nger is just a zero sum game.
Please Amy, be careful, we don't want to learn one day that you had your pretty face smashed by yet another moron you had an argument with.
Frog in L.A. at May 29, 2006 8:23 PM
About the flash on the license plate...
Photoshop seems to show the underlying
details as 5XXXXXX. I can send you the
enhanced picture if you like.
Ron at May 30, 2006 3:28 PM
Oops - disregard the above. I processed the
wrong picture. The right one really is completely
washed out.
Ron at May 30, 2006 3:32 PM
Ron, you must have the right picture as the license plate of the (Valencia) Power Honda reads 5XXX (rest deleted by Amy for identity protection) then "?" and the last two numbers are the same. If the cops were looking for this car, there is enough to identify (the rest of) it.
Frania
RE: "The best way to win a fight is to never get in one"... or turn the other cheek!
Neither of which fits our red-headed goddess.
Frania W. at May 30, 2006 10:07 PM
Um, Valencia Power Honda is my tiny hybrid! I'm going to delete a few of the license numbers from your post above, if you don't mind, because I prefer not to have that information posted on the Internet!
Amy Alkon at May 30, 2006 10:12 PM
As a fellow former New Yorker... you should have maintained your la-di-da composure just a wee bit longer. It would have been sufficient to point out his parking infraction, without making it personal in attacking his choice of car.
I'm all for speaking out and up - but this wasn't exactly a cocktail party or other consciousness-raising opportunity - and I doubt any message delivered at that time, in that tone, would have had any effect.
I wear a yarmulka (kippa) on my head - and it acts like a magnet for all kinds of people who feel the need to 'splain things to little old ignorant me - as if anyone not on the same page as they are must not have thought things through, like I'm making all this effort not as a result of a long, deep personal process, but because I'm missing something - and they in their glorious condescending splendor are going to enlighten me about The Truth in 30 seconds or less.
Although I agree with the substance of your opinion, that's how you come off in this incident - totally gratuitous in your anger and condescension.
And yes, dangerously so - despite the assumed socioeconomic profile of Whole Foods customers.
Ben-David at May 31, 2006 3:35 AM
Only half way down the page of comments which I found not only interested but levelheaded. I have to ask why aren't any of these people running for Congress. You could use this sort of ethical insight. A first question did this ogre ever say that he didn't want his picture taken? And if so why did you not stop.
Now hold on a sec Amy, I hope I am not being too familiar, I am going back to the comments to finish. (insert Final Jeopardy! (tm) music here*)
Right.
Done.
I applaud you for doing what most Americans no longer have the stones to do and that is call their comrades out when they are being scofflaws. Eventually, a man that will park in a compact spot will run a red light, will drive after too many drinks, will get a hotel room with a woman who is not his wife it is a slippery slope. but so too is righteous indignation. We here in Hell do know that the greed for oil and its fractals has cost irreplaceable treasure in the form of the lives of young American men and women who honorably have been maimed and died for NOTHING in Iraq. To point that out to a man in a parking garage who might be one corn stalk from having his wagon axle snap is foolhardy even if it is RIGHT. You are a tough bright and attractive woman Amy and I and my staff would like you to stay that way.
And now a second question: Had this been a tall beefy black man driving say an Excursion (it's even bigger if you can fathom that than this dolt's rolling Skylab) would have have offered him the same piece of your mind? The answer if no begs a question is it the fear of physical punishment that you would have been concerned with or a perception that the black man might not be cognizant of the moral issues surrounding the oil for American lives quid pro quo currently playing out in the Middle East.
Once again be careful lady and if you must pick fights pick them where there are alot of witnesses and access to medical care!
Qu'ul cuda praedex nihil! (May you suffer not!)
Cavalor Epthith
Editor-in-Chief
The Dis Brimstone-Daily Pitchfork
"Wrap your fish in Dis!"
Cavalor Epthith at May 31, 2006 4:22 AM
Charge the SOB. Nobody should have to put up with battery.
Dan at May 31, 2006 5:43 AM
I posted my response to Cavalor on his blog, after seeing his same post on my technorati links. I'll paste it in here:
Amy Alkon at May 31, 2006 7:31 AM
Sheesh! You teeneymobile people are insufferable. We full sized vehicle drivers actually use our NORMAL sized machines to move people and things. If you all want to drive little tin cans fine but keep you silly ideas to yourself.
If I wish to spend more of MY money to get myself, my commodities and or my friends/family down the road that's my choice. You are out of line. Driving small cars will not 'save the planet' or change the geo-political landscape. There is yet no true or real shortage of oil and long before there is we shall be moving ourselves over the roads with the next cheapest means of locomotion.
You really are a foolish woman. Life is harsh enough. The last thing anyone needs is for a harpy shuch as yourself screeching inanities in public at us.
Scott at May 31, 2006 8:14 AM
Scott,
May I suggest that you go see "An inconvenient truth"? You might learn one thing or two (and no, it's not tree-hugging BS, it's actual facts).
Like you, I believe that people have the right and freedom of their personal choices, but there's no harm in taking the long view on their impact and consequences.
Frog in L.A. at May 31, 2006 10:44 AM
Ten childfree people driving Hummers don't impact the environment nearly as much as a hybrid driver who has kids.
Pirate Jo at May 31, 2006 11:23 AM
Full Sized SUVs Consume Less Energy Over Lifetime Than Hybrids
Read it and weep:
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/01/new-study-full-size-suvs-consume-less-energy-over-lifetime-than/
Its so typical of the Left that they get up on their self-righteous high horse and start telling others how to live their lives. Grow the ____ up!
Yes mankind is going to have to take steps to leave less and less of a footprint on planet earth ... and we are. It won't be some dictatorial bunch of totalitarians who make the necessary adjustments and improvements to our economies and lifestyles in the coming decades. It will be a free people, the US, Austraila, Japan and maybe the Eurabians if they can save themselves, who adapt and do the right thing.
Scott at May 31, 2006 12:34 PM
It really makes my horns ache when humans used canned science to make their points! Aaaargh! This PROOF that hybrids consume more energy conception to destruction was prepared by CNW Marketing Research Inc a company in Oregon with offices in 48 other states that is widely known for its automotive studies. Love the company hate the fundament of the metrics they used. It is not that the fine people at CNW are in bed with the automakers, it is that the system of metrics used clearly show at least to this demon, that using existing petroleum economy based means of production any vehicle requiring hazmat disposal of a battery system beyond that of the 700 CCA unit you have in your vehicle Scott will require more cost to destroy it. Easy solution then, don't scrap your hybrid! Run it into the ground! Or start building cars with ethanol powered systems! But that's not how Americans want to live they want something new every few years. Hmmm, this demon thinks that marriages are rooted in the same whiny human male frailty!
Just a thought.
Cavalor Epthith at May 31, 2006 1:46 PM
My last car was a 1970 Mercedes. One of my cell phones is about six years old (in France). My American one is old and worn. I'm from the midwest. I don't buy a lot of new stuff. I'm one girl, with one 1900 lb. hybrid car, which I plan to keep. My car is highly efficient, and a SULEV -- a super ultra low emissions vehicle. I bought the car that was best for the environment and fuel consumption that I could find. Moreover, for a moral person, being safe while not endangering others is a major concern.
And their study is skewed, and therefore wrong. A commenter on that site explains why:
So, let's never invent anything and there will never be any cost, right?
Sigh. People will stop at nothing to eke out justification for their inconsideration and greed.
Amy Alkon at May 31, 2006 2:10 PM
"Inconsideration and greed." Enough with the hollier-than-thou judgmentalism. Both my wife and I drive large vehicles. She a SUV and I a large pickup (which gets 20 mpg with it's deisel engine by the way). Unless we are just running in to town to get the mail or have lunch we are driving to the city. 50 miles. Each trip one or the other of us load our vehicles with more stuff than you could wedge into your entire vehicle if you stacked it like bricks in every cubic inch of your cockpit and trunk. When we go pick up our teeneymobile friends for dinner guess who drives? They can't wait to stretch out in a real car with their knees out of their chests ... or ours actually as we would be the poor fools in the back if we took thier tin can.
So you have a SULEV ey? A plug-in? Where do you think that juice comes from? Perhaps a coal-fired generating plant. Or petroleum fired? Unless its a nuclear plant you're cheating.
Scott at May 31, 2006 3:33 PM
My documentary filmmaker friend Jay Miracle (6'7", I believe) packs more into his VW golf than he ever did into his Pathfinder. Like me, he cares about the environment and the rest. The idea that you must drive an SUV to carry stuff is bullshit. Like that study, I'd imagine. I'm on deadline so I don't have the time to start digging, but I agree with the skepticism of various people posting there -- like Eric:
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/01/new-study-full-size-suvs-consume-less-energy-over-lifetime-than/#c1358462
Again, I drive a 1900 lb aluminum car. It used $207 in gas last year. I bought it because it uses less gas than any other car commercially available.
And guess what, Scott? Any car with a back seat fits enough people for a double date. Teenymobile? Your poor friends can't stretch their legs? Awwwwww. How...tragic. You know, maybe it's more important that a kid born today can breathe. Clearly, you're not one to think of others.
Amy Alkon at May 31, 2006 3:49 PM
Ello M(r?)s. Alkon,
While i whole-heartedly agree that this jerk was behaving badly and applaud you for pointing this out to him, you completely lost me with your marine jibe. That's ridiculous.
Nearly as ridiculous as the posters who implied that this, i agree, assclown is beating wife/children because he tried to grab your camera. It was absolutely HORRIBLE behaviour and had i been there to see it I would of tackled him. What a jerk. But you people who assume he is beating people at home are fucking deranged. The guy is a jerk and were you to press charges I think it's justifiable, but assuming he beats children, jeebus.
Also, I do not drive a car. If I had a family I would, but as is I walk/bike/public transpo. So my question to you is- Would it be alright for me to look down my nose at you and assume that you care less about marines and the soon to be breathless children (more ridiculous hyperbole) than I because you bought $207 in gas last year, whereas I bought zero? I guess so, but I would never do that, you seem nice enough, if maybe a little full of yourself.
For the most part, I applaud your actions, let us now if anything more happens with our inconsiderate friend.
geofferygellineck at May 31, 2006 4:26 PM
Just checking back here, seems this thread is yesterday's news. love the picture of him taking yours, funny stuff.
Another thought in passing, how many marines do you know that drive hybrid or compact cars?
The three i know of, including my cousin, drive
an SUV, a pick-up, and dual diesel. Three guzzlers. Do you really think these guys are coming back here and cruising around in miatas,
waving in appreciation to passing hybrid motorists saying "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, you really GET IT" No, I have no evidence of this, but I am willing to bet that a HUGE majority drive large trucks/suv's. I would bet that marine hybrid owners are as numerous as marine P.E.T.A. members and marines for gun control.
Not many.
Have a good evening and great tomorrow.
geofferygellineck at May 31, 2006 7:40 PM
"Stay passive, red river, if your goal in life is to avoid fights or controversy."
To play the devil's advocate, why don't you go down to a Taco Bell in Long Beach at 11pm on a Friday, find an SUV with gold rims, windows tinted out, low to the ground, a La Raza sticker on the back window, with four Hombres in it, and do the same thing?
Are you saying that man was weak and you knew it? And that you accosted him thinking it would make a good story for your blog? That - and your trigger being cocked by the line in the store - makes it right ?
( He was weak, BTW. A gentleman would have laughed at you and walked away - or aplogized and offered to guide you out of the parking space. )
If pain is your goal, then by all means use every ounce of your wit, words, and strength to make others submit to your will. Its not enough to be right, when you can make the other side cry.
Escalation leads to escalation until all it becomes is a fight. Verbal triggers lead to verbal triggers until it leads to blows. Where once someone was open to you, the mere mention of your name causes their jaw to clench and their mind to close. That's what we want - closed minds. Thats how we change the world - one mind a time. Right?
You have a gift for writing that is as wonderful and as dangerous as the right to carry a concealed weapon - but you squander your advantage by misusing it. Another person might have chatted the man up and made him ashamed to have blocked them in and then further ashamed to have an SUV. You would have won without fighting - and left him and you smiling.
I've seen such kindness assaults by Texas Dowagers and they are absolutely crushing.
In Texas, had I done what you did, and a LEO found out about it, I would have lost my CHL for a month if not longer.
In this case, no one revoked your life.
red river at May 31, 2006 10:13 PM
LEO? CHL?
YOU WRITE:
I don't approach people who look armed. Today at Starbucks, a bunch of guys who looked like they'd been in prison (and recently) were shouting into their cell phones. I kept quiet.
I talk to people all the time. I speak out. It's who I am. If people were motivated by rational appeals to not drive these vast vehicles, well, the guy's living and breathing and probably reads the newspaper...that approach is apparently not working, now is it?
Do you really think a guy like this is going to have "an open mind" or be persuaded by anything but the fact that he might have a hard time or a bad day for driving a vast vehicle? If that were true -- he'd already be driving a Volvo station wagon.
FYI, Jerome Barkow, one of the fathers of modern ev. psych, talked about my equally in-your-face approach, my card campaign against SUVs, as "successful evolutionary psychology in action" (ie, spreading a meme that SUVs are uncool to drive).
And sure, Geoffrey, it's your right to look down on me for owning a car -- and to tell me I'm an asshole for doing it. If that's what you think, I wish you would. If more people spoke out than just me about their beliefs, maybe more people would think and act in positive ways.
Amy Alkon at June 1, 2006 1:05 AM
Please get over yourself. You made this a story. You could have got into your "look at me I have a hybird" car and drove away. You saw an opportunity for a blog item and you jumped at it. Dont wax poetic about the faces of 21 year old boys dying. Could you be more full of crap. You morons are so miserable with your own life that you look for anything to blame it on.
Oh, and Pink is certainly not your color.
David at June 6, 2006 12:39 PM
Charm certainly isn't your thing. Neither, for that matter, is insightful thought. What about faces of 21-year-old kids dying is "full of crap"?
Oh, and don't tell me -- you don't exactly drive a Smart car.
PS For future reference, "And you're ugly!" or "You look like crap in pink!" tends to suggest your argument isn't worth a shit.
Amy Alkon at June 6, 2006 3:53 PM
I never said you were ugly or that you look like crap on the contrary I think you are a pretty lady, just not in pink. Just some advice.
As a relative of a Marine in Iraq, please dont ever disrespect him by using the images of his comrades dying to prove a point about a parking spot. You should choose your words better, or tell the 11 year old who writes these articles to do so.
David at June 7, 2006 9:12 AM
Oh good God woman, get a life. That is all. Goodbye.
Jon at June 23, 2008 11:54 PM
As a person who cares about Marines in Iraq, I'll keep talking about how Marines are dying so assholes can look cool in their SUVs. You find that disrespectful? Why, because you're an asshole unnecessarily driving an SUV? Personally, I try not to use one more drop of gas than necessary, and I likewise drive a car that pollutes your lungs as little as possible.
You?
And if "get a life" means not speaking out for what you believe in, thanks, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
Furthermore, you weenies got last names? When I criticize somebody, I do it under my own full name -- I don't hide my identity like a coward.
Amy Alkon at June 24, 2008 12:43 AM
So, David, what do you do at CBS?
Amy Alkon at June 24, 2008 12:48 AM
97 percent of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere are created by non-human sources. Mostly, volcanoes and plant decay.
anon at October 21, 2008 11:35 PM
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