Outrage over friends and family reactions to a "near purchase"

Coach, I have to say the people in your life are preposterous. They seem to have the peer-pressure taunting attitude of junior high kids. Imagine how they'd be on a decision that's actually of real importance (in the grand scheme choosing a car is not terribly important).

I have seen Prius jokes online and in movies (check out The Other Guys, they call it a tampon on wheels), but in jest. I didn't realize some grown adults actually hold such silly opinions. One has to wonder if they have a strong bone in their body or bend like a wilted tree to the winds of opinion around them. I like Prius jokes and have no problem with them at all but if I was around people who genuinely looked down on me for it I would not be in their company; I am an adult and prefer their company to people of weak-will.

Knocking the car because it's slow or cannot tow are real criticisms. Because it's "wussy" is childish, these people need help not you. Next time just buy the car.

BTW these groundless opinions of a car (how sad that people define themselves so much by how they get to work!) are the same kind of reason people say "I'll never buy a minivan".

As I told you in the past, buying this is out of strength, not weakness. Weakness is bowing down to the teenager-like pressures of the people around you.

Also, when the nuclear war comes in 2012 and society has crumbled and there isn't much fuel left Prius owners will be treated like gods. You will have a throne and they will pay homage to its fuel economy!

 

I'd think you'd have "other ways" of proving you're a man... and if the "girls in the office" would like a free home demonstration....

Maybe there was a time when the horse you rode affected your manhood... but now-a-days, driving a gas guzzler and having to suck up to OPEC-ers (pronounced Oh-Peckers, as in Osama or Obama) ain't one of 'em.

On the other hand, I used to joke it takes a real man to wear a pink shirt. With my red neck, I really don't know. But today's car choices are definitely more about brains than brawn.

If it's really that bad in your household, you could wait for the rumored-in-another-thread, forthcoming Prius Pickup... the Prickup!

Bill "Originally From The Only Southern Capital Not Captured During The War Of Northern Aggression" :boxing:

 

My wife drove our 2010 for the first 10,000 miles. She has some gripes. Tiny feeling, lower to the ground, but worst of all is the aggressive driving of others around her. She is now driving our 2005 330i and not complaining.

I'm happy because I am finally driving this awesome car. Yesterday, in Ft Meyers FL, about 69 degrees average, I put the prius in the garage at the end of a 60 mile day of driving and the consumption average was 62.5. My best mpg day of driving ever! I love the tech. It's like a spaceship.

 

+1

I bet all your family and friends drive pickup trucks or SUVs. It's hard to change people. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the hassle.

 

I am a coach of sorts..I teach Korean Military Tae Kwon Do and American Catch Wrestling. All of us students and teachers `coach' each other all the time. As we left the dojang, there sat the Prius (bought just before class time) in the lot. Everyone loved it. The LED lights, the quiet crawl through the lot. It was a hit. No one told me that since I engage in some rough and tumble physical activities that I shouldn't be driving a Prius. Perhaps you need to change your sport.

 

Excellent story. Goes to show its not about image or approval...Its about confidence. If a persons worries that much about what other people think, they have security issues.

Craig

 

This is all about Southern Football Culture, if I can call it that. The people in coach's daily life aren't the same as your average PriusChat member, or even your average Northerner for that matter. These are the very same people for whom those really stupid beer commercials were created. It's a whole different world view, and not one I care for, but it's their view, and they get to decide what it is.

I applaud the coach for pushing back against aggressive ignorance and raging testosterone. If it doesn't work out for him, he can always move north and we can teach him to play hockey.

Tom

 

Back when I wrestled in HS, Coach drove a little crappy Fiat and no one would have dreamed of tormenting him about it. The football coach drove a little Ford Ranger. It reminds me of that Simpsons episode (Season 7 - 22 Short Films About Springfield) where Nelson points and laughs at some guy driving a VW Beetle. Unfortunately for him, it turns out to be "very tall man" who gets his kicks out of teaching bullies a lesson.

 

Thats some serious generalizations you make there.....In fact, I sense some of the same judgmental things the coach was referring to.

Craig

 

Lookout, or this thread's gonna' be moved over to Fred's House of Pancakes.

In the meantime, one of my earliest observations as a wee bit of lad:

The smallest, weakest looking guys had the biggest Harleys... and rode them sitting way up on the tippy, tip edge of their huge banjo seats.

 

They are serious generalizations, I will freely admit. And like all generalizations, there are always many individual exceptions.

Generalizations are generalizations because, in general, they fit. In general, in this case, Louisiana is a deep south oil state, chock-a-block with redneck good ol' boys. In general, redneck good ol' boys don't like sissy cars. They like trucks: great big trucks with great big tires and great big diesel engines. They also like football. American Football. It's a manly game, played by large manly men.

Coach coaches a manly game in a manly part of the country. Why is this relevant to this thread? Because coach wants to know why he is getting so much flack from his family and friends. It seems pretty obvious to me.

If some people want to pretend that all of us are exactly the same, with exactly the same thoughts, then have at it. It's a tidy thought, and appeals to political correctness, but it lacks any basis in reality.

Tom

 

Nail em down with negative leading comments like:

Why are your friends so intimidated by a car?

You know, with all the electronics and power management computers, the Prius is probably smarter than most of your friends.

What exactly makes the Prius a pussy car, it's great gas mileage, it's high tech credentials or is ecological pedigree?

 

Buy the Prius, then run 'em over!

 

I'm sure others in the forum as I live in Texas. You are constantly surrounded by large pick up truck and suburbans.

I changed the order of my conversions to include a new "BIG" horn thanks to one of the members.

Michael

 

That one I liked!

The bad news? I can already tell you the answer: All of the above. I believe that a pussy car is any vehicle that is NOT first and foremost an aggressive looking or seeming machine. Or at LEAST one that isn't obscenely expensive. Once a car crosses some imagined cost barrier, it is *awesome* regardless of how crappy/sissy/unsafe/stupid it is.

 

Been out of the Prius loop for 6 years. I am surprised at the negativity. But then again, there is always going be people that act like this. I got the same crap when I had my 06 Tacoma, 07 Yaris and 07 Tundra. Most of the people that made negative comments were driving a Ford or GM product. The GM guys were the worst.

For the Prius, it is particularly bad. I think its because: 1. Its a Toyota. 2. Its a popular Toyota that is successful. 3. It is technology that Toyota pioneered and other manufacturers have not been nearly as successful with. 4. Its environmentally friendly.

Personally, I really don't care what others think about what I drive. I make the payments, and I will drive what I want.

Oh yeah, and if people think I am gay because I drive a Prius, let them. Because I am.

 

Cool. You might be the only real gay person on this forum, seriously. The rest of us, at least according to some, are only pseudo-gays.

 

Ha. Thats funny. I swear if I buy a Prius I will not put anything rainbow on my car!

 

Well in short to respond...there is negativity and unfair stereotype applied to Prius, as it applied to most things unfairly...because of ignorance.

Why is there ignorance? Well over the years Prius has been succesful and become Iconic for many good reasons...it also has been attacked and stereotypes have been attached.

IMO there are so many good realities tied to Prius that the best way to fight the ignorance is with tolerance and information. I think knowledge about the capabilities of a Hybrid, and the experience of actually driving one...can do much to dispel silly, stupid ideas or misinformation or stereotype.

Movies like "The Other Guys"...episodes of "South Park"...and some Automobile Show Hosts and the media in general have created much of the skewed perception many people do have.

One thing, The Prius has in it's arsenal that is almost unassailable, is the fantastic gas mileage. If I was trying to convince a wife of the validity of a Prius purchase, I would try to get her excited about the realities of owning a Hybrid..Cutting Edge Technology......Quiet...Economical operation, Efficient...all things that have no gender based attachment.

Then just have her test drive one. I think one thing that Toyota has done excellently with Prius is create a REAL automobile. Despite what some uninformed might think...The Prius is ultimately a very good, very enjoyable..very useable automobile.

If you can illuminate all these facts...and she still hates it? Then I see marriage counseling in your future...and if that goes south? Make sure YOU get the car...

 

Being in California it maybe wasn't quite so hard for me. But I dumped a perfectly good "06 Ford F150 Supercrew (and my jet boat too) simply because I was intrigued by a car that would give my motorcycle a run for its money in terms of gas mileage. I love the tech stuff too. In other words why waiting for the death of the Frontier? Just go get one. I wouldn't even consider myself "green" per se but I do enjoy trying to milk mileage from this car.