The Right Thing to do........

In the old west, cowboys used to say, “If you can’t do it from the back of a horse, it ain’t worth doing.”
The horse was such a status symbol, a real cowboy would mount up just to cross the street. Things haven’t changed much. In this twenty-first century, modern westerners feel much the same way about our cars. We drive to places where we go walking for exercise.
Try leaving your car parked for a month except for genuine need. You’ll find it’s harder than giving up cigarettes. Everywhere you look, you’ll find antismoking crusaders urging you to quit smoking. But where are the anti-automobile zealots? You might as well give up Mom and apple pie. Not driving is definitely un-American.
It doesn’t matter that the automobile, specifically the internal combustion engine, is probably responsible for more death and long term damage in a year than all of tobaccos sad history.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not advocating smoking instead of driving. I’m not even recommending a return of the horse and buggy. That raises environmental issues of a whole ‘nother spectrum.
What I am suggesting is that in order to achieve a healthier and less expensive lifestyle, we should moderate our use of (gasp) THE AUTOMOBILE.
For example, if you walk to the store, you’ll not only save on fuel, you’ll spend less because you must carry it home. If you ride the bus to work and so inform your insurance carrier, they should reduce your premium. Your car will last longer and need fewer tune-ups and you won’t have to replace your tires as often.
Of course, you already knew that. It’s just that you’ve become so addicted to your automobile that you long ago gave up counting the mind-boggling cost of simply owning an automobile.
If you’re like most Americans, you’ll have to borrow to buy a new car. And whatever the price says, $12 to $17,000 for the lowest priced new cars, it’s going to cost you several thousand dollars more. Medium priced cars go for $20 to $30,000 and even higher additional costs. Tax, license and insurance on so-called luxury cars make them prohibitive for the average wage earner.
Of course, you can buy used and save thirty percent on the initial price of a new car. But you’ll pay a higher loan rate and increased maintenance costs.
All that is without mentioning the elephant in the room. The only predictable thing about fuel is that it’s going to go higher. The less we buy, the higher the price. Gotta maintain that profit line, y’know. ‘Course, that is getting us into high finance which is way beyond my level of sophistication.
I guess we could just park our cars next to the exercise equipment stored in our garages and use them all as coathangers.
If you’re a car owner, don’t ever laugh at the ostrich with his head in the sand because we car owners certainly have our heads stuck somewhere.