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Are you puffed with pride because you drive your kid to nearby school?
By Adam Zhang |
January 15, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
I'M not a whiner, but I just can't stand people's obsession with owning a car, as well as their dangerous driving habits.
What really gets to me is that when so-called educated and successful people turn into idiots behind the wheel.
Last October, I visited my wife's home in Zhejiang Province; it is small and surrounded by beautiful rivers and mountains.
What impressed me most about this place was the breathtaking scenery versus the immense number of cars.
When my wife and I visited her friends and relatives, we were consistently asked: "Do you own a car?" It seemed as if we would be losers if we didn't have one.
When I asked what they specifically do with their cars on a daily basis, they simply said that they use it to drive their kids to school every day.
My wife later told me that their houses are only 100 meters away from kids' schools.
The situation in Shanghai is similar. To many Shanghainese, owning a car means they are successful.
But wait. Do you need a car even if you can't afford your mortgage? Is it really the case that owning a car means you are wealthy and successful?
That's not necessarily the case. Most of my friends and relatives who own a car earn only a very small proportion of my own salary, and some of them are even just above the poverty line.
Perhaps it's okay to own a car, but what about road etiquette? In Shanghai, at least, many drivers' etiquette is atrocious.
If you own a car, please don't forget to cultivate good driving habits, as your driving affects not only your passengers but also all the pedestrians, bicyclists, bikers and other drivers you encounter.
As a foreign reader once pointed out in the Shanghai Daily, people who have enough money to buy a car often disrespect pedestrians. In addition, many arrogant drivers of luxury cars look down upon those driving non-luxury cars.
What really gets to me is that when so-called educated and successful people turn into idiots behind the wheel.
Last October, I visited my wife's home in Zhejiang Province; it is small and surrounded by beautiful rivers and mountains.
What impressed me most about this place was the breathtaking scenery versus the immense number of cars.
When my wife and I visited her friends and relatives, we were consistently asked: "Do you own a car?" It seemed as if we would be losers if we didn't have one.
When I asked what they specifically do with their cars on a daily basis, they simply said that they use it to drive their kids to school every day.
My wife later told me that their houses are only 100 meters away from kids' schools.
The situation in Shanghai is similar. To many Shanghainese, owning a car means they are successful.
But wait. Do you need a car even if you can't afford your mortgage? Is it really the case that owning a car means you are wealthy and successful?
That's not necessarily the case. Most of my friends and relatives who own a car earn only a very small proportion of my own salary, and some of them are even just above the poverty line.
Perhaps it's okay to own a car, but what about road etiquette? In Shanghai, at least, many drivers' etiquette is atrocious.
If you own a car, please don't forget to cultivate good driving habits, as your driving affects not only your passengers but also all the pedestrians, bicyclists, bikers and other drivers you encounter.
As a foreign reader once pointed out in the Shanghai Daily, people who have enough money to buy a car often disrespect pedestrians. In addition, many arrogant drivers of luxury cars look down upon those driving non-luxury cars.
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