Living in a Car Culture

Consider these two situations. In the first situation, you are driving along the freeway and a white '94 Nissan cuts you off. In the second situation you are driving along the freeway and a Mercedes cuts you off. In which situation are you the most enraged? Even if I had the money I'd never buy an expensive looking car-Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, etc. because I wouldn't want to be responsible for the emotions that follow those particular vehicles. It is the most ridiculous thing when you think about it, but I've seen people get even more upset when cut off (a percieved slight that was probably accidental) by an expensive car. It's as if those people believe that those cars represent everything they don't have and that the act of being cut off is like life slapping them in the face. I would never want to be responsible for that kind of thing. You want to improve your karma? Drive an old klunker. It elicits sympathy from other people (compassion is a good emotion), makes them feel better about themselves and their situation (because hey, at least their car is better than THAT), and I've found that people really let you in and you don't have to cut anybody off because your car looks like something out of Mad Max.