The Prius Effect or Why I Am Hated

*This is a re-post from an older blog, but it was recently written. Original content for today will come later.*

Several months ago I was in a horrible car accident. I was on I-4 driving home as I am wont to do and have done for going on 8 years now. The same stretch of road that I have in the past, counted up to 9 'driver error' (Read: People too stupid to know when to start breaking when the roads are wet and end up sliding into the median rail) related accidents in one day. So I'm driving, and one of these idiots, henceforth referred to as  The Idiot in a white Toyota Camry with preexisting front end damage (surprise, surprise) is following too close to an 18 wheeler with a flatbed trailer.



The driver of the semi brake checks The Idiot, which is probably what I would do if I were the driver of the semi. The Idiot loses control, jerks his stupid car over two lanes of traffic and slams into my right front quarter, breaking lose the steering linkage of my beloved little Nissan Versa and throwing me at 80MPH into the median wires. I went through 8 mounting posts while the median wires entangled my car, sawing their way through the front pillars, shaving off mirrors, door handles, headlights, bumpers, and anything else that distinguished my car from other piles of broken metal and glass. I only stopped when my car slammed into a STAY OFF MEDIAN road sign (The one laying next to my car in the picture above) which was mounted to a 5 inch wide aluminum pole in a concrete base. It literally sheered the aluminum pole from the base, but it was enough of an impact to slow me to the point that the wires were finally able to gain some tension and stop me. Needless to say, I needed a new car.

I started doing my 'research' (drooling over every new car I saw). The insurance company loaned me a base model Mazda 3 for 1 week, which didn't do much for me since I only had it for a couple of days before leaving for Canada and had to return it to avoid being charged for it while gone. It was junk anyway.

Anywho, I drive 60 miles each way every day to go to work, so I can't just buy any car. Whatever I drive 

has to be great on gas, so I shopped around and finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to buy the car I had been talking trash about since it was released: the Toyota Prius. I found an amazing used current model with 30,000 miles on it less than a mile from my house. It has every possible upgrade, even the solar roof that most potential buyers scoff at because of the cost to upgrade. It's great and I love it, but there's a problem...

Everyone else in the universe hates my car! I have never been so discriminated against in my life, and I've bought gas in South L.A. while being a white bald man! I'm not even a slow driver. I should be, because the Prius does better on gas at slower speeds, but I drive steadily along at 80 miles per hour, flowing with the traffic in front of me like every one else, and still, somehow, I am hated. OTHER PRIUS DRIVERS pass me and flip me off, only to cut in front of me and immediately slow to the same speed since that's how fast the Corvette in front of me is going. What gives? Is it because it has the solar roof? Is this a normal thing? I've turned it into a bit of a game. I listen to standup comedy while driving just so that when someone flies past me and slows long enough to give me the finger they will see me laughing hysterically when I turn to face them.

Oh well. Anyway, you should buy a Prius. They're pretty great.