In my EDC and knife posts, I made the point that people tend to keep more things with them than necessary. One reason is commercialism under the guise of necessity. While some products do make life easier in their specific tasks, at a certain point, we become so buried in things that we “need” to facilitate life that we begin to become encumbered.
This is something I struggle with constantly. I love getting something new, and I love little gadgets and tools and flashlights and shoes. Something happened recently though that really made me examine this about myself and whether something specific in my life really “furthered my cause.” I drive a 1996 Lexus LX450, for those of you who aren’t total Land Cruiser nerds like myself know, those numbers translate to “Toyota Land Cruiser” specifically an 80 series Land Cruiser which was produced from 1990-1997 globally. On paper, it gets poor fuel economy, it goes pretty slow, and it’s now 23 years old, so it requires a certain amount of maintenance, most of which involved good old fashioned grease. Not a very practical vehicle for one person’s runabout town, which is what I’m sure prompted a man in the gym parking lot to tell me that, “I should be ashamed of driving my vehicle.”
So, I thought about it. I examined whether I should be ashamed of my beloved ‘cruiser – is it environmentally friendly on a day to day basis? Probably not in the micro sense. What I can say in its defense though is that instead of causing a new company to build a whole new car for me, I’m still using a vehicle that’s been bouncing around for 26 years, so that might be environmentally friendly. The maintenance is relatively easy, so I am able to do a lot of it myself, saving money. I have no car payment, and it suits my lifestyle well, hauling bikes and gear reliably as the day is long.
So, am I ashamed of myself, the answer would be a resounding, “no.” Is my huge truck a lesson that something doesn’t always have to be 100 percent practical? Sure, it’s good to think about. There are plenty of Subarus out there that would do what I need that make my old LC look like the Exxon Valdez. My wife drives one as a matter of fact, but you know what? My LC makes me happy, and sometimes that’s enough.
