Epitaph for the SUV

At the gas station the other day. You know the one. We all have one, that "secret" cheap gas place. You know the one, where the price is still below $4.15 a gallon. The one that you don't need a pre-approval letter from a loan officer, the one where they don't check your organ donaor card in case you drop dead, the one without the holding pen for ransomed children and small pets whose parents and owners came up short for a tank.

Anyway I was pumping gas next to a big gas-guzzling green SUV. Couldn't help feeling sorry for the guy. My little Honda still fills up on a bout $38 bucks, and gets me just about through the week. The guy looked like a hard working Joe, a middle class guy. His gaze was on the spinning dial before him. No doubt he was headed for the hundred dollar mark, I could almost see the grocery and shopping list shrinking behind his eyes. There goes the six pack of beer for the weekend, swapping ground beef for a pack of hotdogs, goodbye gallon of milk, the trip to the zoo for the kids, the light bill over the phone bill.

Up drives a little yellow and black Smart Car. Small enough it could have driven into the back of the SUV just about. The SUV guy was staring bullets at the owner of the Smart Car, who also looked like a hard-working guy. No doubt there was a bit of envy, and also the polarizing animosity deepened by the Bush Administration and a caustic and degenerate corporate media. The two guys might have been good friends, but now the SUV guy looked like he wanted to punch the Smart Car guy.

Then it occurred to me. This scenario played itself out 65 million years ago. The SUV guy was eyeing the Smart Car guy the same way those lumbering and gigantic dinosaurs eyed the annoying little warm-blooded mammals scurrying around their giant clawed feet. Well, we see who won that argument. So long SUVs, you won't be missed.