Originally Posted by Old_Fart
The is really more of a rant than a question, but feel free to share your experiences.
I have been making a real, if gradual effort to use my car less and less over the past couple years. I commute by bike a couple time a week (working on more but a 35 mile round trip every day is too much as of yet). Last November I built up an Xtracycle for obvious (to this crowd, at least) reasons and I love it. Generally, I'm trying not to be preachy but instead to be ever less dependent on the car and maybe to be a good example for others.
Lately I'm finding that some of my good friends just don't get it. They won't accept my explanations of why this is important to me. To them it's not about money, pollution, traffic, or whatever, it's all an excuse to snub them. The little whiny details really don't matter for purposes of this post.
How many of you have gone through similar experiences with friends and family?
I guess I'm lucky. Most of my friends (85%)---and they are of all ages from 25-65---are all car-free. They almost all have regular jobs and possess varying degrees of education. Only one friend lost his license due to DUI. We just know that if you live in downtown Toronto, you don't need a car. It's more of a hassle and unnecessary expense than a convenience or neccesity.
Being car free has made me a number of friends even. Cyclists can talk with one another a whole lot easier than motorists can talk with one another---and when they speak to each other, it's rarely friendly.