QOTD: Are You Feeling Bad?
We had a piece on Bentley owners feeling just a wee bit guilty about conspicuous consumption today. I found myself giggling a bit at the concept as I edited it -- aren't people who buy Bentleys showing off? At the very least, don't they not care what others think?
Chris wrote as much in his lede.
This compels me to ask you, oh wise B and B, if you would feel bad should you own some high-priced sheetmetal. Or if you do own some high-priced sheetmetal. Maybe we don't have many Bentley owners in our readership, but I bet we have some Corvette and Viper owners. Perhaps some S-Class owners, or Lexus LS owners, or...you get the idea.
This is an easy one. Do you feel guilty, either from an attention-getting standpoint or an environmental one? Or both?
Or do you not care -- maybe you like the attention.
Perhaps it's both -- it's not mutually exclusive for the owner of an attention-getting car to both enjoy being noticed and still feel a little guilty about standing out and/or harming the environment (maybe the car is a gas-guzzler).
So, what say you?
Sound off below.
[Image: Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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I bought an indulgent (for me) car a few years ago. I don't feel funny driving it, but I am more self conscious about it. Also spent $100 on a keyboard that isn't wireless. I adore the damn thing, but it was an indulgent purchase. And I'm the only one who sees it.
Some people are just wired this way.
That picture.... is that Mary Barra in the break room from 1996?
I'm feeling bad because I've got to get 4 new tires for my Mazda 6.
Yokohamas, Continentals, or something else? (Micheline pilot sports A/S are too dang much).
What's she eating? That looks good.