what are these people expecting everyone's reaction to be when they buy these cartoonish giant clownshoes trucks?
because i see those things and think "oh look, another sensitive douchenozzle"
Back when I was young, I had a job building, and installing, custom stereos for cars. The place I worked at also did a lot of modifications, one of the most popular things we did was lift trucks, add huge wheels, move exhaust to end above the backs of the cabs, etc. People who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck. They also rarely used them for work, or took them off road. They liked to cruise them down the night life areas, and show off. They would talk about how excited they were to do this. This was the same with people who tricked their cars out like something from TFATF movies. They never raced, they just showed off.
A lot of that is for the same reason people dress nice or have nice accessories like watches and handbags: Conspicuous consumption makes it look like you have money to at least some people.
And anywhere there are vehicles there's going to be a vehicle culture, from low riders to pickups to rice tractors
At least performance mods can improve efficiency, with the focus of getting more power from the motor to the pavement. If they are actual performance mods (as opposed to just making exhaust louder or adding a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), with exceptions of ones that do that by increasing fuel use.
Though even with that one, driving style can matter. Anecdotal, but my car has a sports mode and an eco mode, as well as a fuel use indicator. I found that using sports mode and then having a range of speed I'd drive at (accelerate hard to top speed of the range, then reduce power so that it slows to the low end then accelerating again) was the most efficient way to drive it. If I tried the same in eco mode, the reduced power meant I spent more time doing the acceleration, and either of those was more fuel efficient than just maintaining one speed. Though it was a frustrating way to drive (both for me and I'm sure for anyone who ended up behind me). You couldn't go on auto pilot doing it that way and had to pay constant attention to your speed.
It's kinda like the race to idle strategy for CPU/GPU efficiency. Use lots of power when it's needed so that it can go back to using much less power.
peoople who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck.
Yep! This past weekend, my girlfriend and I were waiting to be seated at Texas Roadhouse, and we saw something interesting.
Some young guy pulled in with his tricked-out, shiny truck, meeting friends who were all decked out in cowboy hats, boots, and big belt buckles—total urban cowboy vibes.
They were laughing and showing off around his truck, talking about the truck, being impressed. But then something odd happened: they took off their cowboy hats, swapped their boots for tennis shoes, untucked their shirts, and walked over to the Kohl’s next door!!
I was like, what the fuck did I just see? They switched personas from country to urban real quick—they def cared a lot about how they were perceived.
They’re probably not thinking about it as such, but rather it’s an atavistic dominance display, like a gorilla beating its chest, coming directly from the hindbrain.
They aren't. See the fuck cars folks like to joke that they just want attention. Y'all can't fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
Y’all can’t fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
with the trucks on the market at this point, the actual "use case" functionality comprises maybe 10% of the reason people buy them. the rest is peacock feathers sticking out your ass
and the "you can't fathom having fun" bit LOL -- classic "you just don't get it" defense of anything dumb. and the fact that there's always always someone who has to chime in and come to the defense of stupidly large obnoxious emotional support trucks just proves the point: "y'all" can't handle anyone not thinking you're cool because your goofy ass truck
Modern trucks are signifcantly larger and bulkier than their older counterparts. Their bed and bumper heights have increased and many of them have become luxury vehicles. The truck went from a workhorse to the family vehicle.
Many people also buy a vehicle, such as a truck, that is significantly over qualified/over capable for the majority of their trips. If you buy an oversized vehicle, it is on you to deal with parking it and fitting it places, it should not be society's problem to service oversized vehicles.
Hi, I use a truck daily for work.
If I could trade in my current truck for something more economical, with similar cargo space for the things I actually use it for, I'd take it. Can't afford a new vehicle, but if I could trade my truck in for one of those stubby EU type trucks, whose beds are almost the same size, I'd do it.
I used to love bombing around the winding roads in the middle of winter at night, you can see people coming for a mile down the road and can go fast. It was fun. I don't need a big 2,000lb monstrosity to get the same feeling. An ebike and woods will do it.
Ah yes, so much fun to be had on the daily commute, stuck with everyone else from your sleepy suburb on a congested highway moving at glacial speeds because there’s no other option to safely and effectively get around for the people who don’t want to be there and can’t get out of your way.
Sure, you can take that thing out on weekends on country roads, mudding, camping, hauling ATVs to your favourite trails, building you or your buddy’s cottage, whatever you dream - but that still leaves 5 days of the week in traffic hell if you work in a city. Do you really want your neighbours to be left with no options to get out of your way so you can enjoy driving more on those days?
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Every single time anyone posts something vaguely critical of these emotional support vehicles, we always get someone with a bruised ego in here trying to fight the entire community over it. Which is hilarious because it kinda just proves the whole point. If it’s not about image then why are people so sensitive about it?
There really isn’t any other explanation for why these monster trucks have become so popular than vanity. Larger trucks with higher, smaller beds have become the norm, and they’re actually less useful for the things you might need a pickup for. And there’s similarly no reason to think that Americans have suddenly discovered a huge need for pickups that didn’t exist 50 years ago. Yet their prevalence on the road has increased dramatically.
It’s just another fashion accessory. But unlike the fedora, it’s a deadly one, and so of course we will criticize you. Don’t like it? Easy solution: stop choosing fashion accessories that kill people. There are plenty of other ways to cosplay wealth or rugged individualism.
what kind of work places have communal shower rooms where you can laugh at each other?
Office blocks that have gyms.
The office where I work in central London, UK has bike parking for 300 and only eight vehicle parking spaces. We also have a fitness suite. There's two (male and female) locker rooms with showers, towels provided, a drying room.
At least one of the green building standards doesn't give you the top rating unless you have provision for active travel, institutional investors won't buy your shiny new building unless it's rated "Excellent" or "Platinum", tenants are looking for added extras which encourage their staff to come to the office rather than WFH.
And Westminster Council charges business rates (property tax) on parking spaces.
Manufacturing plants? Usually if there's a changing room there's showers
Many white collar offices have gyms.
As someone mentioned, gyms. I biked to work at one of my previous places, and if I wanted to shower, I'd head to the on campus gym. That gym had stalls, so theoretically ou could talk in the shower, though I never did.
Porn
Office I worked in had shower rooms. I did bike to work but never showered there because eeewwww.
My last two offices had showers. No communal room, but the thing I remember most about the last one is the hot water being pumped from the furnaces of hell itself. It took so long go get there, and was so hot once it did I can't think of any other explanation.
Mines and quarries
Sounds like she failed successfully!
shower rooms at work
Damn, I've spent years commuting by bike and never once had a shower room at work. At one place I had to join the nearby Y and deal with naked, old, fat southern men lounging around on couches in the locker room every morning making jokes about imprisoning black men for life.
This sounds familiar af... Pensacola?
Close enough - Shreveport, Louisiana. This Y was where all the judges and prosecutors (and the defense attorneys as well, of course) from the courthouse hung out. I kinda wish I hadn't told this story because now I can't those locker room images out of my head. So much overfed, droopy white flesh covered in gray hair.
My favorite thing about this Y was that they still had a bunch of those motorized fat-shaker belts from the 1930s or whenever on the top floor - and this wasn't even quite 20 years ago.
Fuck oversized trucks. That lady deserved to have you - and everyone else - laugh in her stupid face.
You wouldn't laugh at a fat guy going to the gym.
The lady is cycling to work each morning. The initial impetus might have been bad, but she's doing a lot better than most people. Once she gets into the habit of cycling, she's a lot less likely to stop than if she's laughed at for it. It might also help her realise the truck isn't worth the hassle.
Youre getting downvoted because you are correct.
I haven't seen it that way, but you're right actually. Good for her that she saw reason and is now using a bike.
Lmao
Can't believe that workplace abuses their workers like this, making people think she's poor! /s
Ya know, this is a good argument for all cars to be cartoonishly oversized. That way they can only be used when absolutely needed.
Or of course the car lobby will just push to make all the infrastructure fit around the giant gas guzzlers.
Some time ago I was standing chatting next to my vehicle in a parking lot. This was in college. About 50-60ft away was one of the lot entrances. Not too steep, though one of those that will catch a lower car if it doesn't come in carefully. Anyway, in comes screaming a Lamborghini. The very expensive sound the bottom of that car made still makes me wish I was recording. Could've turned it into my morning alarm.
I like to think me bursting out laughing still haunts the driver to this day.
So the world needs more Raptors?
No! Cause that bitch got home after her bike ride and drove that truck 4x more than her commute would've been. I work at a place that smells pretty bad due to the chemicals needed for the job. A LOT of people have "beaters" they use for work so their good cars won't smell bad. This saves them enough money to afford ridiculous cars and trucks for their "normal life". There's a guy that drives an old geo metro for work. Awesome! Those get great gas mileage and it's a 30 year old car, good on you man! "Yeah I just don't want my ZL1 Camaro to smell like this place" well, fuck.
And then the whole shower room got up and clapped.
