Some time back I was forwarded the following email:
We can lower the price of gasoline if we work together. Please view the attached PowerPoint presentation and believe we can make a difference.
Then, the powerpoint goes on to elaborate how, by not buying from Shell/Exxon, we can create price wars and bring the price of gas down. Here's my question:
How about we choose to not purchase from Chevron instead? Since they are not the biggest they will feel the impact sooner. Or how about Arco? The extra transaction fee on the debit card purchases will also be cut down and then we can target 2 birds with one stone - Arco Gas and the ATM profiters. But wait, what if someone has begun a parallel chain to reduce the consumption of Chevron or Arco already? Maybe someone from Shell/Exxon.
How about we start another campaign, to drive hybrids only, so the gas consumption goes down automatically? But then, will Toyota, Honda and other hybrid manufacturers rule the market? In that case, why not start a campaign to stop driving altogether? But then there will too many people onboard the buses, which means the buses will consume more power to transport these people (and if an average American is to be accounted for...holy jeeragoli!!!). This also means that more buses more frequently will be needed to carry the passenger traffic, which in turn will increase the consumption of Gas. CRAP! We are back where we started!
O what the heck, its much easier to forward an email to 30 people. Now, i think i should forward this to everyone i received it from - as a reminder - just in case they forgot - dont buy from Exxon & Shell - even if you are on I-5 in Lost Hills en route LA and your car is running out of gas and the only gas station in the vicinity is a Shell. Push your cars and you can push those buggers to succumb into reducing the gas prices!
I am definitely boycotting Shell, as soon as i get a Chevron Mastercard that gives me 5% cashback on every gasoline purchase, and as soon as i am finished showing my folks from India around. Shell, you can make all the money you want in the next month and a half as i rent bigger vehicles and drive more and more, but come September...i mean July YOU ARE GONNA CRY!
(Originally emailed in May 07)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Rear-ended by a BMW
Every time I drive past a few bumped cars on a crawling freeway I think to myself, "Why can't people focus on the road while driving." I have never bumped into a car in front of me (did get real close one time in Mumbai when I almost ran into a stopped truck, but that is a different story, the truck fella was stopped in the fast lane and changing tires), atleast not yet, and I hope to keep that record intact. But this time, I am sitting in a stopped traffic jam on the freeway, I see a car's headlights in my rear view mirror, the car breaking hard, and immediately sense that it isn't stopping in time. Sitting like a lame duck, there is nothing I can do except embrace for the impact. How do I prepare myself for it? What am I supposed to do? I do what I've seen and felt is the most common thing to do - clench my eyes, hold on to the steering wheel, and await that dreaded metal-on-metal impact sound that is all so familiar with the number of accidents I have witnessed.
And then it happens, THUD! Followed by another THUD! This time from my car bumping into the car in front of me because of the force of impact from behind. Then there was a third THUD, the sound of me bumping into the car in front of me again, and I realise my foot is off the brake and my car is in motion. Slamming down on the brakes my first thought is, "Wow! No airbags!" I see the guy in the front car get out and try to walk to my car, but the cars around us have started moving again, and he does what seems most sensible at this moment - gets back into his car. The traffic around us is moving, and I sit here not knowing what to do. Looking back & forth I sense that everyone involved wants to get off the freeway, the fastest way being pulling over to the shoulder. We manage to maneuver ourselves there. Everyone steps out. I move the 3 of us behind the last car in order to keep us from getting smashed between one of our cars and the center divide, in case another car decides to join the party.
No one is hurt. I call 911. After confirming our location and no injuries I am asked the description of the 3 cars. A Mitsubishi Mirage in front, my Toyota Solara in between and a BMW behind it all. Wait a second, a BMW?! Over the past few years I have this thought brewing in me about BMW drivers. Driving a BMW seems a pompous proclamation of one’s recklessness. I once heard a fellow comedian comment on it, and I distinctly remember laughing hard at it.
I own a BMW myself, the difference - it's a motorcycle! I bought a touring bike. I remember the day I first walked into the BMW motorcycle dealership. Lo behold, the dealer offers me a 40 minute test ride. I ask him, "How come you allow test rides when no other Motorcycle company/shop does?" He said, "It’s because guys who come to us, who are thinking about a BMW, are a matured breed. They understand the thrills and frills of a motorcycle and have become responsible riders." What a paradigm shift! As a BMW Rider I am a mature, responsible person on the road; a BMW driver - rash, abrasive, reckless!
At the scene of the accident, we all exchange information and drive on. In the days that followed I heard quite a few people mention, "Thank God, you were not on your motorcycle at the time." WRONG! If I was on my motorcycle at the time, I would not be stopped in the traffic behind a car; I would be splitting lanes and passing all the stopped cars. Somewhere along the way I would probably see a few cars stopped in the middle of the freeway, bumped into each other, and think to myself, "Why can't people focus on the road while driving?!"
And then it happens, THUD! Followed by another THUD! This time from my car bumping into the car in front of me because of the force of impact from behind. Then there was a third THUD, the sound of me bumping into the car in front of me again, and I realise my foot is off the brake and my car is in motion. Slamming down on the brakes my first thought is, "Wow! No airbags!" I see the guy in the front car get out and try to walk to my car, but the cars around us have started moving again, and he does what seems most sensible at this moment - gets back into his car. The traffic around us is moving, and I sit here not knowing what to do. Looking back & forth I sense that everyone involved wants to get off the freeway, the fastest way being pulling over to the shoulder. We manage to maneuver ourselves there. Everyone steps out. I move the 3 of us behind the last car in order to keep us from getting smashed between one of our cars and the center divide, in case another car decides to join the party.
No one is hurt. I call 911. After confirming our location and no injuries I am asked the description of the 3 cars. A Mitsubishi Mirage in front, my Toyota Solara in between and a BMW behind it all. Wait a second, a BMW?! Over the past few years I have this thought brewing in me about BMW drivers. Driving a BMW seems a pompous proclamation of one’s recklessness. I once heard a fellow comedian comment on it, and I distinctly remember laughing hard at it.
I own a BMW myself, the difference - it's a motorcycle! I bought a touring bike. I remember the day I first walked into the BMW motorcycle dealership. Lo behold, the dealer offers me a 40 minute test ride. I ask him, "How come you allow test rides when no other Motorcycle company/shop does?" He said, "It’s because guys who come to us, who are thinking about a BMW, are a matured breed. They understand the thrills and frills of a motorcycle and have become responsible riders." What a paradigm shift! As a BMW Rider I am a mature, responsible person on the road; a BMW driver - rash, abrasive, reckless!
At the scene of the accident, we all exchange information and drive on. In the days that followed I heard quite a few people mention, "Thank God, you were not on your motorcycle at the time." WRONG! If I was on my motorcycle at the time, I would not be stopped in the traffic behind a car; I would be splitting lanes and passing all the stopped cars. Somewhere along the way I would probably see a few cars stopped in the middle of the freeway, bumped into each other, and think to myself, "Why can't people focus on the road while driving?!"
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