Have you ever tried giving a non-enthusiast advice on what car to buy? It's torture.
Oh how I pined for my folks to spring for a nice Honda Fit when they finally needed to replace the '92 Camry they were giving to my grandma. The spacious rear seat! Room enough for a bike in the back! A reasonable price!
It was all for naught. They bought the car they wanted in the first place.
A Prius.
I genuinely think they're better off with the hybrid than the Fit. The Toyota makes them happy and that's all I can ask for, but those weeks of campaigning for the Honda was a long and arduous battle that I do not want to engage myself in again.
Irving Washington wished he'd never even have to question the preferences of society's non-car-loving majority. He took offence to my assortment that gearheads are raised, not born.
I was born this way! How dare you imply that this is just something I decided to do?! Do you think it's easy to be a gearhead? Do you know what it's like never being satisfied with "normal" cars? What I wouldn't give to love the Camry like everyone else. Do you think my parents are proud of me? You think it was a fun day when I had to tell my dad that every car he ever bought was awful? Our relationship still hasn't recovered. He's a kind man, and he tries to understand, but I know he's hurt deep down.
And society actively threatens us. They don't accept us for who we are. Do you know how insecure it feels to know that you could be fired at any time for spending 3 or more hours a day on Jalopnik? And poor Ray Wert's got a rap sheet as long as your arm because of who he loves. The heart wants what it wants! Free Ray Wert!
So you can take your carophobic assumptions and shove them up your exhaust. We're here; we're gear; get used to it!
Photo Credit: Jay Hoang