B.A.L.L.S.: The car idling rodeo
Bitching about Life in London and Society
is a weekly column that attempts to delve
into the smaller irritations in our society.
I was in northern Alberta last summer, and observed a very ritualistic-pack like event. One that surely rivals the drive-in theatre, or those old A&W restaurants where your food is delivered on roller-skates. An event that supercedes the main street hot rod cruiser, although this one hasn't disappeared entirely, hangout on the Barney's patio for a while; I don't even want to talk about Grand Bend. What I observed was homage to the first Tim Horton's in a northern Alberta town. There were enough pick-up trucks in the drive through to hold a couple herds of deer, taken out by a 12 gauge in a farmer's field from the cab of the truck. It wasn't a matter of convenience, it was an event; the store was empty! Trucks wound their way around the store along the street and spilled over onto the highway. Cowboy hats bobbing in tune to Vince Gill and boisterous hooting and yipping that couldn't be heard over the droning of diesel engines, howling hound dogs and the dying moans of bucks, fawns and does.
It would be a leap to compare this phenomenon to the average drive through patron in London, but it did invoke the same question: Why?
There are many opportunities in our city to let your car idle away. To burn the refined liquid of prehistoric plankton because walking into a store to buy your coffee is an obtuse suggestion.
The Drive Through:
Next time you are in the vicinity of a Tim Horton's on an early morning workday, take a look at the drivers waiting in line: mean, stony, pinched nosed poker faces that wear their cars like an ugly old hat. We all have our turn at the drive through, but when does it become a matter of complacency, or laziness, or entitlement? When is it ok to use a drive through, and when is it better to park and walk in? That is not for me to answer, but I will say this: it is never ok to choose convenience over our planet! If burning prehistoric plankton was good for the environment, then have at it. The same goes for smoking, war, drugs and sniffing permanent markers. The problem is, they are all bad, they kill your lungs, innocent people, and your health and your mind and you get marker on your nose. Breathing in the exhaust of combustion engines is not good for anything but industry, exploitation, and doctors.
So, why do people line up across the parking lot and onto Adelaide Street? Why do they look at you with irritation and scorn when you wind your way through them to park? Because by you parking and walking into the store, they feel like it is a personal attack on their choice to use the service of the drive through. “How dare somebody show me a way of life contrary to my small minded version of it!” They can sit in their cars, listening to the easy hits of yesteryear, fix their makeup, and grow more and more irritated at the slow pace of the line. Luckily, and let me share this secret with you, there is a solution. Get out of your car. I know, revolutionary talk, but hey, it starts somewhere.
There was a short-lived movement in London last year to ban the drive-through altogether. Remember that? Businesses responded with a fury, the public resolved against it and city council caved under the pressure, a year later, nothing. Convenience over our planet? Ease over effort, we are Timmying our way to oblivion.
The Idling Continues:
The drive through patron is an example of laziness perhaps, perhaps something else? There are other cases of the car idler that may be more disconcerting? An example may be the driver waiting for a train to pass that will not shut off their engine. We see this everywhere really: at grocery stores waiting for the middle aged woman cart abandoner to make their way out of the store, in front of variety stores waiting for bud to buy a pack of smokes and a bong (you notice how you can buy a bong anywhere now? You used to have to make a special trip to Younge Street in Toronto to hit up a head shop). People all over the place running their engines as they sit there with the windows wide open, smoking a butt and wiping drool off their shirt.
These people are not interested in convenience they just don't care! Not even crossing their collective mind.
My Take:
Engine idling has serious health consequences, experts say. Air pollution contributes to ozone depletion, increases rates of asthma and heart disease and contributes to the greenhouse gases that are associated with climate change. It is a myth that stopping and starting an engine is has more negative impact on the environment than idling, look it up.
The public relations machine will have us believe that it is swell to idle, but they aren't talking about the engine, they are talking about your brain.
Conclusion:
When all is said and done, when we lie on our deathbeds and reflect, we may find that our conscience keeps us more awake than coffee.
Comments? Look for the group B.A.L.L.S. on Facebook.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
I was in northern Alberta last summer, and observed a very ritualistic-pack like event. One that surely rivals the drive-in theatre, or those old A&W restaurants where your food is delivered on roller-skates. An event that supercedes the main street hot rod cruiser, although this one hasn't disappeared entirely, hangout on the Barney's patio for a while; I don't even want to talk about Grand Bend. What I observed was homage to the first Tim Horton's in a northern Alberta town. There were enough pick-up trucks in the drive through to hold a couple herds of deer, taken out by a 12 gauge in a farmer's field from the cab of the truck. It wasn't a matter of convenience, it was an event; the store was empty! Trucks wound their way around the store along the street and spilled over onto the highway. Cowboy hats bobbing in tune to Vince Gill and boisterous hooting and yipping that couldn't be heard over the droning of diesel engines, howling hound dogs and the dying moans of bucks, fawns and does.
It would be a leap to compare this phenomenon to the average drive through patron in London, but it did invoke the same question: Why?
There are many opportunities in our city to let your car idle away. To burn the refined liquid of prehistoric plankton because walking into a store to buy your coffee is an obtuse suggestion.
The Drive Through:
Next time you are in the vicinity of a Tim Horton's on an early morning workday, take a look at the drivers waiting in line: mean, stony, pinched nosed poker faces that wear their cars like an ugly old hat. We all have our turn at the drive through, but when does it become a matter of complacency, or laziness, or entitlement? When is it ok to use a drive through, and when is it better to park and walk in? That is not for me to answer, but I will say this: it is never ok to choose convenience over our planet! If burning prehistoric plankton was good for the environment, then have at it. The same goes for smoking, war, drugs and sniffing permanent markers. The problem is, they are all bad, they kill your lungs, innocent people, and your health and your mind and you get marker on your nose. Breathing in the exhaust of combustion engines is not good for anything but industry, exploitation, and doctors.
So, why do people line up across the parking lot and onto Adelaide Street? Why do they look at you with irritation and scorn when you wind your way through them to park? Because by you parking and walking into the store, they feel like it is a personal attack on their choice to use the service of the drive through. “How dare somebody show me a way of life contrary to my small minded version of it!” They can sit in their cars, listening to the easy hits of yesteryear, fix their makeup, and grow more and more irritated at the slow pace of the line. Luckily, and let me share this secret with you, there is a solution. Get out of your car. I know, revolutionary talk, but hey, it starts somewhere.
There was a short-lived movement in London last year to ban the drive-through altogether. Remember that? Businesses responded with a fury, the public resolved against it and city council caved under the pressure, a year later, nothing. Convenience over our planet? Ease over effort, we are Timmying our way to oblivion.
The Idling Continues:
The drive through patron is an example of laziness perhaps, perhaps something else? There are other cases of the car idler that may be more disconcerting? An example may be the driver waiting for a train to pass that will not shut off their engine. We see this everywhere really: at grocery stores waiting for the middle aged woman cart abandoner to make their way out of the store, in front of variety stores waiting for bud to buy a pack of smokes and a bong (you notice how you can buy a bong anywhere now? You used to have to make a special trip to Younge Street in Toronto to hit up a head shop). People all over the place running their engines as they sit there with the windows wide open, smoking a butt and wiping drool off their shirt.
These people are not interested in convenience they just don't care! Not even crossing their collective mind.
My Take:
Engine idling has serious health consequences, experts say. Air pollution contributes to ozone depletion, increases rates of asthma and heart disease and contributes to the greenhouse gases that are associated with climate change. It is a myth that stopping and starting an engine is has more negative impact on the environment than idling, look it up.
The public relations machine will have us believe that it is swell to idle, but they aren't talking about the engine, they are talking about your brain.
Conclusion:
When all is said and done, when we lie on our deathbeds and reflect, we may find that our conscience keeps us more awake than coffee.
Comments? Look for the group B.A.L.L.S. on Facebook.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
