Today I met a new grad and I am surprised by her alternative life style. No, she is not homosexual. She is not planning to buy a car! It is not that she cannot afford a car. She choose not to buy a car. She prefer cycle to work and take public transit to go around in the city. One reason she move to Vancouver is because she think it is a very environmentally friendly city and people loves taking public transportation.<\/p>\n
Remember when we start working, the first major purchase is a car. Automobile means freedom. You can go anywhere you want whenever you want. Your life is no longer bounded by the under service, very inconvenient public transit system. My friends, who are from my generation, also puzzled about the new grad’s choice. We just couldn’t understand how can someone live without a car. Maybe the newer generation is brain washed by extreme environmentalist. They grew up with the cars are evil misconception. The automobile companies better do something to save their future market. This new grad maybe just an isolated incident, but if the younger generation start ditching theirs cars and riding buses, the automobile industry would be in big trouble.<\/p>\n
We tried to convince the new grad the necessity of having a car. We asked how could she come to work in Winter when it rains or snows. She said she used to bike to school in Ottawa even in Winter. We are speechless. I tried to scare her by telling her news stories of robberies and murders close to Skytrain stations after dark, but it seems she is very confident that won’t happen to her. Then I asked her what about moving furniture or having out of town weekend trips. She said she can ask help from friends and would only go to trips with friends anyways. Ah! I guess that’s the difference between a guy and a girl. A girl can afford not having a car, because there are always someone willing to drive her around. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"