(03/26/04)
When you drive the streets near the University of Texas at Austin campus for several hours a day, 3 days a week for over a year, you start to notice things. Some of the pedestrians are pretty hot. Some of the drivers shouldn't be on the road. Fat people are ugly and, contrary to popular belief, not usually all that jolly. One of the things that pisses me off though is when I see some dumbass cut me off in a souped up BMW with performance springs, fancy light things, and 19" rims. And then when I pull up next to him at a light, I look and see that he appears to be somewhere around 18-20 years old. Clearly a college student. Which makes me wonder: where the hell did the money to buy this car come from?
Yes, I know a few college students sell drugs/take bets/steal property, and its possible that criminal behavior accounts for a few of these $35k+ cars, but I think often it's just a textbook case of kids whose parents buy them everything. These are most likely the same students who can somehow not have a job while paying $1200 for rent while paying fraternity dues and still having the money to go barhopping every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
What actually pisses me off more is listening to the parents try to justify the expense. If your daughter gets in 3 car accidents per year, buying a Land Rover is not the solution. The solution is to TEACH HER HOW TO DRIVE and TELL HER TO STOP DRIVING DRUNK ON THE SAME ROADS I WORK ON. I think a driver's education course would be a more worthwhile investment (by this I mean a real course, not that retarded course high school kids take). Take away the vehicle and make her take the bus around. Please, do it for the children.
I'm not really referring to rich people either. I just don't understand parents who buy their children better cars than they buy for themself. I see so much of this. Alright, there's the dad who drives a Porsche Turbo on the weekends and the Mercedes S600 during the week who buys his son a BMW 330. If you have the money, go ahead and get your children something good. I don't really care too much about that. But I have friends who got new cars when they were 16, and another new car when they went to college at 18, and another when they graduated from college at 22. All the while the parent drives around the kid's last car. Who in the right mind would want to drive a hand-me-down car that he bought for his kid years ago? Buy yourself the nicer car and let the kid drive the hoopty. My last car cost $2000. Tell your kid he can do the same.
