Commuting - Tired old question

Those of you who are regular readers of my posts will realise the basic contempt I have for popular culture generally. Here's an example. As a car-free transportational cyclist, I constantly get people asking me "do you want to buy my car?". Invariably, the cars they are referring to "second" cars that are practically falling apart and would require ridiculous amounts of maintenance (read: expense) to keep them running at all (never mind "efficiently").

What I want to know is this: Are people really that dense? Even if I had any interest in buying a car (which I don't), why would I buy a heap of crap? Why wouldn't I buy a decent one instead? I mean, I have quite a reasonable job, I live in a nice apartment that isn't exactly the cheapest one on the Gold Coast. Admittedly, this place is the scam capital of the universe, but I don't see these people targetting anyone else for this particular form of "marketing".

So why do so many people see me as a potential "market" for their old bomb?

Same thing with me and my non-motorized push lawnmower. All my neighbors keep coming up to me and asking, "Do you want to use my lawnmower?" When I tell them I choose to use a push mower because I don't like to use gas, they just don't understand and insist I use their gas mowers.

Your situation does seem a little different, though, in that those people seem to be targeting you for shady marketing schemes. It's the human condition to view people trying to do good as being weaker. Very ironic to me.

Your situation does seem a little different, though, in that those people seem to be targeting you for shady marketing schemes. It's the human condition to view people trying to do good as being weaker. Very ironic to me.

Perhaps I worded that part poorly. Here on the Gold Coast, everyone gets targeted with shady market schemes -- they are the illiterate ones who can't read a sign saying "no junk mail" on my letterbox.

However, I do get specifically targeted by people with a bomb car to try and sell. The opinion appears to be that because I'm a cyclist, I'm going to want to buy it. This is the part I have a problem with. I live in a nice apartment - not a hovel, I spend the money on quality components for my bike, not junk. Why do they suddenly assume that I'm going to change that policy on cars, simply because I don't own one? What makes them think I'm suddenly going to be interested in buying junk?

Same thing with me and my non-motorized push lawnmower.

I admit to having a gas mower. I also have a push mower. I found that the push mower doesn't trim some of the thicker weeds and I got tired of running around my lawn trimming them with scissors. I normally use my push mower however. I only use the gas mower when things are really thick and I just can't get the grass trimmed reasonably with the push mower. As a matter of fact, my gas mower has the same gas in it as it had from its first fill-up two years ago. This is probably not good.

One day, I was mowing my lawn with the push mower when my neighbor came up to me and informed me that there was a sale on powered mowers at Home Depot and some of them were pretty inexpensive.

I understand that sometimes people need to use gas mowers just as sometimes there is a need or use for gas powered automobiles. I can't claim to be free of gas power in my life.

I'm still contemplating why people in Chris L's area tend to see him as a potential market for their old "bomb". Ignorance of some sort, but it seems like in this case it's mixed with a cultural shadiness in general. To what extent does his bicycling have to do with being marketed to? I think that the lowest form of salespeople try but do not succeed in marketing to the right people. Targeting an obviously avid cyclist for a beater of a car is trying without succeeding, and poor business practice. This is precisely why they aren't in a successful position, instead selling beater cars.

Sometimes Chris some people will see a cyclist as too poor to buy a gasmobile. Therefore they feel the need to push their 1,000,000 blue light special at you at a special "I feel sorry for the poor cyclist" price.