In light of Nate’s good-humored yet caustic remarks regarding my fondness for Volkswagen microbuses, I feel compelled to explain my regard for what I consider a really good idea. Now, I do not include myself in the jamband hippiness demographic anymore, thank goodness. I parted ways with the unwashed brethren a long time ago. Heck, I haven’t even seen a live music act in years, not counting that classical guitar troupe I caught in Toledo last year (although I am seeing Sector Nine on New Years). Anyway, let me stress that aside from the unfortunate hippy connotation, the microbus is a GOOD IDEA. Why? Well, once you strip all the Grateful Dead stickers off and install a working muffler, the microbus represents a way of traveling in delightfully stark contrast to the current consumerist orgy symbolized by the Hummer. Think about it: the microbus is about community and family. The whole idea is about traveling around together with a group of people, in a vehicle designed to allow them to go anywhere they want without depending on the availability of expensive hotels and restaurants. This is simply a good thing, and it represents an approach to traveling that should be encouraged. The image of the treehugger-hippie van with smoke pouring from it is a fading cliché. But the image of the lone soccer mom cruising around the grocery store parking lot in a Hummer that gets 7 miles to the gallon is all too common. The entire SUV trend represents a devotion to excess which, in light of our current conflict in the middle east and our near-total dependence on foreign oil, should be appalling. Need I mention this? It is true that Volkswagen is wise to not introduce a new microbus to a market currently obsessed with pointlessly huge, fuel-inefficient luxury vehicles driven not by families but by lone commuters, grocery moms and single guys with penis envy. But it is also true that world oil reserves are dwindling, and in order to free ourselves from dependence on non-renewable resources we should be encouraging a market of alternate fuels and hybrid or electric cars. Meanwhile, we could just as easily pile into a microbus.
But all this aside, I just like cruising around in ‘em. Especially with my John Lennon sunglasses on.
