David or Goliath

English 102 John DiMartino

Essay #3 24 February, 2004

David or Goliath

Each morning Mrs. Smith grabs her daily coffee before work and heads toward her $52,000 SUV parked outside on the driveway. She clicks the keyless entry on her key chain and with a, BEEP, the monster opens its doors to let her enter. As she climbs to her seat, millions of other Americans are doing the same routine. The deep roar of the engine scares the neighborhood birds away, as Goliath awakens from his slumber. Mrs. Smith puts the truck into reverse, and carefully backs out of the driveway. Slowly at first, then with a little more confidence she releases the brake. BANG! The dumpsters that were put out the night before by her husband, for the trash man, were pummeled all over the street. (Thank heaven for tinted windows and an oversized vehicle! The blind spots must be excellent!) Anyway since Mrs. Smith is alone in her overly sized vehicle and already late for work. She dials to her husband inside from her stylish cell phone, to come clean the dumpsters while she leaves. Now you can only imagine a person who is already late for work driving an oversized vehicle and talking on the cell phone. (Quite a combo). Does it hit a little close to home? Is such a large vehicle really necessary for daily commuting and living? Why can't Americans adopt the philosophy to simplify, clarify, and economize? Due to these gigantic creatures, enormous amounts of Carbon dioxide is spewed into our atmosphere, and our environment is going straight down the tubes. Are we going to watch?

There are good reasons to purchase an SUV and some of these reasons I feel are justifiably true, considering what the intentions are with them. Automakers such as GM say that among the top reasons consumers give for picking a full-size SUV are that it seats more people and that the size makes them feel safe (Cloud). Also people like how they can be versatile with a large trunk space and roomy interior. Of course, the idea of a larger sized vehicle equals safety is a misperception that manufacturers are not so eager to correct, especially since sales seem to keep rising. Safety is true only when two SUVs collide, and because of their size, there are 20% fewer deaths than when two cars collide. But, these land barges affect everyone and raise serious questions about safety, pollution, and oil dependency from a country where they burn US flags before breakfast (Cloud). Now recently, owning an SUV is awarded by governmental tax loopholes. We are going in the wrong direction with this! After Busch signed a $350 billion tax cut, small business owners rushed to purchase these vehicles because they can write them off in deductions. This spurred increase in sales in SUVs throughout the US, all so that the local tanning salon can advertise there business on a flashy three ton box on wheels.

I can agree that owning an SUV is quite an enjoyable venture, although I find myself wondering what really is its purpose in an urban setting. Yea sure they are fun and exciting to drive, but I only enjoy them when I am actually four wheeling in the dirt. Not driving down an interstate highway. When I think of a Sport Utility Vehicle I think of something extreme and rugged, something that will be able to haul a yak across the Tibet countryside or climb a twelve thousand foot mountain. I have total respect for those people who actually use their SUV in their proper environment. People that actually need four wheel drive in their job or even recreational activities. For instance, a Park Ranger should be equipped with a Jeep of some sort, in order to navigate through rough terrain. Even someone that just lives in the mountains or wilderness should be equipped with some sort of SUV because the environment calls for