I don't think I can be friends with moms who drive huge SUVs

[Anonymous]

You really think that someone who lives in the suburbs and drives to the grocery store and everywhere else can criticize others over eco consciousness? You have just multiplied your family’s carbon footprint by moving there. So apparently you can make selfish eco decisions but others cannot? Glass houses op. If you really cared about these issues you would have stayed in the city. Did you bike to Aldi? Lol nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to the suburbs, and they are everywhere. Some of the kids are in travel lacrosse and soccer and they are in FIRST grade. They all have the same exact huge white SUV. It was hilarious the other day because a few of them ran into each other at the grocery store and were talking obnoxiously about their vacations while standing in line at Aldi. Anyway, once I got to the parking lot, they were all talking and loading their groceries. They all have the exact type of car a HUGE white SUV. My first car in high school was a Prius. Dh wants an SUV but I am adamant about having a sedan. We have two kids, and it's fine. Do these people not care about global warming? We had an earthquake a week ago, killing thousands of people. Driving these huge cars is such a waste and global warming contributes to more earthquakes. I went from living in an apartment to this. It's such a big change.

I drove an SUV a for a long time and I felt safe in it especially when it snows which is rare this year but in years past a few storms a year in DC. Plus traveling it is more comfortable and giving rides to kids friends need more space.

Have downsized now and can only fit 3 kids total in my fancy sedan. SUVs for a family are practical. Kids, suitcases, etc… also we drove more than we fly. How much gas are you using flying all over? Op don’t be so judgmental. You will isolate yourself.

[Anonymous]

Good lord. This is what you spend your time being upset about? We have one big white SUV and one electric sedan. If you met me driving the sedan, you'd like me but if I was driving the SUV (that we use every damn square inch of), you'd be like "you're a garbage person". Got it.

(and it's only white because that was what was available at the time so I guess you can assign meaning to the color, if you want).

[Anonymous]

I will idle my SUV extra long at pickup today in your honor.

[Anonymous]

Define “huge.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to the suburbs, and they are everywhere. Some of the kids are in travel lacrosse and soccer and they are in FIRST grade. They all have the same exact huge white SUV. It was hilarious the other day because a few of them ran into each other at the grocery store and were talking obnoxiously about their vacations while standing in line at Aldi. Anyway, once I got to the parking lot, they were all talking and loading their groceries. They all have the exact type of car a HUGE white SUV. My first car in high school was a Prius. Dh wants an SUV but I am adamant about having a sedan. We have two kids, and it's fine. Do these people not care about global warming? We had an earthquake a week ago, killing thousands of people. Driving these huge cars is such a waste and global warming contributes to more earthquakes. I went from living in an apartment to this. It's such a big change.

I drove an SUV a for a long time and I felt safe in it especially when it snows which is rare this year but in years past a few storms a year in DC. Plus traveling it is more comfortable and giving rides to kids friends need more space.

Have downsized now and can only fit 3 kids total in my fancy sedan. SUVs for a family are practical. Kids, suitcases, etc… also we drove more than we fly. How much gas are you using flying all over? Op don’t be so judgmental. You will isolate yourself.

So why not a mini-van? Why the giant SUV?

[Anonymous]

I hate SUVs because they are a major cause of vehicular deaths. They are deadlier when they hit people and also deadlier when they collide with smaller vehicles. The bigger the SUV, the deadlier it is. When I see people climbing into their giant SUVs out in the suburbs (or, for that matter, in the city -- a lot of people in the city are buying SUVs now too, even with the challenge of parking and storing them), I just think "well I'm glad you feel safe in your death machine."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Define “huge.”

It's the Tahoe/Suburban lot.

[Anonymous]

My advice is to stop being so judgmental. Your kids will pick up that attitude and you’re going to start to wonder fast why they have no friends.

Second, here are a few tips. 1) “travel” sports only means that coaches are getting paid, instead of parent volunteers for “rec” sports. People getting paid for their expert knowledge and labor is a good thing. 2) people live in the suburbs for many reasons and an obvious one is the need for more space. Usually people need more space because they have more than one kid.

[Anonymous]

You do know that most SUVs you see are hybrid or 4 cylinder, right? This isn’t 2000 anymore where your typical SUV is a gas-guzzling cesspool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We recently moved to the suburbs, and they are everywhere. Some of the kids are in travel lacrosse and soccer and they are in FIRST grade. They all have the same exact huge white SUV. It was hilarious the other day because a few of them ran into each other at the grocery store and were talking obnoxiously about their vacations while standing in line at Aldi. Anyway, once I got to the parking lot, they were all talking and loading their groceries. They all have the exact type of car a HUGE white SUV. My first car in high school was a Prius. Dh wants an SUV but I am adamant about having a sedan. We have two kids, and it's fine. Do these people not care about global warming? We had an earthquake a week ago, killing thousands of people. Driving these huge cars is such a waste and global warming contributes to more earthquakes. I went from living in an apartment to this. It's such a big change.

I drove an SUV a for a long time and I felt safe in it especially when it snows which is rare this year but in years past a few storms a year in DC. Plus traveling it is more comfortable and giving rides to kids friends need more space.

Have downsized now and can only fit 3 kids total in my fancy sedan. SUVs for a family are practical. Kids, suitcases, etc… also we drove more than we fly. How much gas are you using flying all over? Op don’t be so judgmental. You will isolate yourself.

So why not a mini-van? Why the giant SUV?

The OP is a troll. This is not serious. Just very obnoxious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will idle my SUV extra long at pickup today in your honor.

I am quite sure you will! And shine those ridiculously bright headlights in all the on coming drivers faces so they have to drive blind while you are at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care about the SUV’s specifically but yes these types of people are why I don’t really have good friends. I can’t relate to them at all - we are friendly acquaintances and that’s it.

I feel the same about the ski trips out west, home remodels, country clubs, private schools, etc. It’s just never ending for many of these families and I feel like an alien visiting a foreign land I don’t understand. And I’ve been here 15 years.

This, I don't get any of it. It's a values system I wasn't raised with and don't understand.

The thing in the OP I most relate to is that feeling when you notice that a bunch of the people around you all have the exact same thing, like there was a memo that went out. It reminds me of this one woman on my neighborhood listserv who sometimes posts things like, "Ok y'all, what shoes are we all buying for the littles now? Are Natives still in or have people found something better?" It is always extremely jarring to me because she's not asking for a recommendation, she wants to know what "everyone" is doing so that she can do it too. This is such a strange way to go through life, it would not occur to me. When I see her posts, I always click on them so I can read them and the responses, it's like being Jane Goodall or something. Fascinating, but something I observe from a distance.

The "I am a mere observer of these sheep" trope. Every high school story has one.

But they are sheep. You can get mad at someone for acting above it all, but you can't deny that the people who are just running around copying what their neighbors and the other families at school are doing are, in fact, sheep.

[Anonymous]

Obviously the OP hit a raw nerve. Feeling a little white suburban guilt aren't we?

[Anonymous]

Okay, let's try this.

I don't own a car. Do you think it would be fair for me to say "I won't be your friend because you own a car?"

Or maybe should I take a wider angle lens and realize that our priorities are different? And our needs are different? Presumably, you have reasons why owning a car makes your life better. I respect that. Do you ever take plane trips? I just about guarantee your plane travel is worse for the environment than the difference between a sedan and an SUV.

Is it possible that what's really going on is that this is a difficult change, you feel out of your element, you feel a bit left out or different, or maybe you're even having second thoughts about this move, but you're going with righteousness rather than sadness because righteousness is "easier"?