"That's What I Get For Buying A Hemi"

I got my oil changed today at a local place nearby. I gave the attendant my info and walked into the waiting area, sat down, and sifted through the pile of newspapers on the chair next to mine to find something to read while I waited. There were two other guys waiting there, one older and one younger. The older man was already reading and the younger guy was gazing into the garage bay, looking at the large black SUV just on the other side of the glass.

The attendant was a short girl who had impressed me already with her professional demeanor. She looked serious and smart with her eyeglasses and she had some grease on her hands and forearms. She had walked in behind me and called the younger guy to the counter as I found the front page of the Sun-Sentinel and started glancing through the headlines.

She ran through the list of things that were included in the service that was done to his vehicle. "Power steering fluid is fine, the belts are fine, tires are fine, we added windshield wiper fluid... It comes to $39.99". The customer's back was to me and my eyes were on the paper, but there was enough of a hesitation for me to get the sense that it was more than he was expecting. I guess it's kind of expected in a garage, that the bill exceeds what you thought it would be.

The guy indeed said that it was more than he thought it would be, and also commented "wow, it takes so much money just to fill it up with gas" and "geez, I guess that's what I get for buying a hemi." The girl was apologetic and explained that his huge behemoth takes a lot of oil to keep it going (but not in those words). I fought the urge to make a smartassed comment. He got all the way to his first oil change before he thought about the amount of oil it used, and the cost of it?" It seemed like a careless comment in the context of this war in Iraq. He could at least save us the theatrics in the waiting room.

I'm sure a lot of people who buy large or powerful vehicles as fashion statements or status symbols don't consider the extra expense of maintaining them. Some don't think about it, some don't care. At some point we're going to have to rely on the power of the people to pull our country up again. We all contribute to the problem. Write to your representatives and express the importance of passing more green-minded renewable energy legislature, like HR 3221, and tax incentives for green energy production and energy conservation like HR 2776, both of which were passed August 4th, 2007.