Interesting Reaction
I had one of those interesting, "where-did-that-come-from" reactions the other day driving to work. I was driving along enjoying the sunshine and the beauty of the day when a vehicle passed me going the other direction. Nothing unusual in that. The vehicle wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't some outrageous color. It didn't have obnoxious bumper stickers. It was obeying all laws and limits.

But I suddenly got very angry and upset.

The vehicle was a huge Hummer.

My immediate- and unusually intense- reaction had to do with all the gas it was eating up at these exorbitant prices and in the midst of a world that is going to suffocate on greenhouse gas emissions. "What gives him the right to use up that much of a precious resource just to look big or macho or whatever? We should outlaw vehicles like that!"

I was seriously taken aback, I must admit. I don't usually react with such vehemence to much of anything. I have never liked Hummers. They are truly obnoxious, militaristic, "give the finger to the world" vehicles. But I have never reacted that way before. The road is just as full of SUVs as ever. Pick-up trucks and vans can be just as wasteful of gas. Who should care if they have to take out a mortgage just to fill up and get across town?

Well, we all should, of course. But that wasn't the point. I realized at that moment how other nations might see the US as we use up more of the world's resources than the rest of the world combined. I realized that I drive a car with better mileage a) because I care and (admittedly more importantly) b) because I can't afford to drive a car that gets crappy mileage.

Was it some true desire to be eco-conscious? Or was it just plain old jealousy and envy? I am not sure. But it did stop me enough to know that I am just as wasteful in my own way. I may not use that much in gas, but my American life-style, by its very nature, is wasteful no matter how much I recycle. Outlawing hummers won't do it, of course. (Hmmm. If we outlaw hummers then only outlaws will own hummers? Nah. Let's not go there.)

Only a committment on my part as much as anyone else's to live in a consistent and world-friendly way will do that. Let's hope it isn't too late.