...At least that's what a LA Times ad suggests.
This is an interesting ad because it brings up a few societal issues: 1) does your car make you cool, 2) does being cool matter?
Without reading too much into the ad, it seems to suggest that having ANY car is cooler than not having a car at all - too bad for the general population of NYC!
Is a 1989 GeoMetro cooler than my Xtracycle? Sure it gets 49mpg (which puts all these modern fuel economy cars to shame), but come on... look at it!
I guess I'm not really that cool because I don't spend an average of $16,000 a year paying for something that I can never really own; something that will always need expensive maintenance, parts and fuel. Instead I choose to do entirely dorky things like take 3 week vacations at random, or buy stocks, or add to my 401(k).
So we've established I'm not a cool guy. But does that matter? Who says being cool is important? The coolest guy in my 8th grade class became an alcoholic at 19, attempted college a few times, and last I heard had 2 kids by different women and he still lived with his parents. The coolest guy in high school died shortly after graduation of a drug overdose - which seems to go right in line with Hollywood coolness; Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison, River Phoenix, Heath Ledger, Chris Farley... Stars Killed by Drugs.
Besides what all the "cool" people are DOING, the question still remains; does it matter? Think about all of the people that you see each day. Do you remember any of them? Do you remember the guy with the black socks pulled up to his knees, long shorts, forearm tattoos, flat-bill hat and goatee getting into his lifted pickup? Do you remember the woman with the too-short skirt, halter top, satellite dish-sized sunglasses and dog-the-size-of-a-burrito in her D&G purse?
You don't remember them? But they are COOL!
Think about this: These folks think so much of YOU, the person viewing them, that they dress up for you each day. They are so concerned with YOUR opinion of them, that they go out of their way to get all dolled up.
There are so many fun ways to take this discussion, and if there are an psych majors out there, please comment on this with your thoughts. The coolests people need others' opinions while the uncool stand on their own?
So you, the humble bike commuter, unconcerned with what other people think of you... you must actually be the coolest one of all. You don't care what people think of your helmet, your neon green spandex suit, or the grease mark up the back of your leg... or the fact that you aren't in a car!
Keep riding, and keep being cool! (if that's what matters)
