A
Newsweek a couple of issues ago had a story called "A Case of Prius Envy" written by Keith Naughton. I would link to it, but I think only subscribers can read it online. For anyone who cares, it's the September 3, 2007 issue, page 40.
I once told someone that if you have to say you're classy, you're probably not. This was in reference to pop singers or pop tarts, I want to say J.Lo, but I don't remember.
Here's a quotation from the article:
Peter Kessner, a devout environmentalist, bought a Honda Civic hybrid four years ago to show everyone that he wants to save the planet. The only problem: no one noticed, since, other than the hybrid badge on the trunk, it looked like a regular Civic. So he traded it in for a Toyota Prius. Suddenly, strangers began stopping him on the street to ask about his hybrid, with its space-age styling and miserly mileage. "That's a big part of why I bought the Prius," says the Floral Park, N.Y., retiree. "It opens up conversations, and I push my theory that we've got to do our best to conserve." The Honda, on the other hand, didn't deliver what Kessner craved: green street cred. "If I'm driving a hybrid," he says, "I want people to know it."
If you buy a hybrid, you do it for yourself and the planet, right? Why do you have to blab it to the world? Yes, I'm all for promoting environmentalism but I'm not an attention seeker. That's fine, but that's not the point. I might be biased toward Civics, but why not slap on a pro-hybrid bumper sticker or get a hybrid license plate? It's probably secret vanity. You want people to notice and admire you. I've never had a stranger approach me about my non-hybrid car, but that's because my cars have never been remarkable. I don't know, something bugs me about this.
I have a solution! Paste a picture of Al Gore onto your non-Prius hybird. That'll do the trick.
