I put the boy in the backpack after work yesterday and we walked to downtown Fremont to pick up a CD I had ordered from Sonic Boom. Afterwards, we were walking up Fremont Ave towards the playground at B.F. Day (he likes the swings) and we had to stop at the 39th/Fremont Way intersection. A fellow on a bicycle pulled up along side us, then a humongous Hummer (the new version; I think they call it H2?) pulled up along side him. I looked at the guy on the bike--probably in his early to mid 30s, and reasonably fit, as you would expect. Then I looked at the guy in the Hummer--about the same age, but clearly packing a few dozen extra pounds and some additional chins. I looked at the guy on the bike, and I said "Now here's a contrast for you: the most efficient form of transportation ever devised right next to what is probably the least efficient form of transportation ever devised." We shared a laugh, and then the light changed.
As it turns out, this anecdotal observation of mine that SUV drivers tend to be fat and non-drivers tend to be fit has been documented in a new study just released by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I find this very encouraging, because not only are the fossil-fuel guzzling behemoths that are clogging our roadways endangered by the inevitable exhaustion of oil, but the drivers are endangered by their own obesity. It is only a matter of time before these dinosaurs are gone.
Incidentally, Tom Toles has an excellent cartoon on the topic today as well.
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