In the Western States, the blogger known as Pbird says, white pickup trucks have a special mystique. You can view her poll at https://howtomeowinyiddish.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-glorious-presence-of-white-pickup.html ; the Disqus discussions tend to move to the newest post.
The discussion today reminded me that this web site is due for a truck status update.
1. My truck is three-colored because it was bought as a fixer-upper. If the hobbyist who bought it had been a little healthier, it would've been white, and would probably have been sold to someone else rather than handed down to me.
2. Most of my relatives' trucks are not white, though a few are. Some years my Significant Other drove a white pickup truck, some years black, some years red, and one truck was brown. "Bargain" and "mileage" seem to be the big selling points but for some years several of the family drove vehicles, cars and vans as well as trucks, painted dark teal.
3. I know some people who do prefer and recommend white for all vehicles. They say that (1) white paint lasts longer, (2) white shows up well at night, and (3) white reflects sunlight better than colors do.
4. Nobody hands out Car & Driver in schools, afaik. Boys used to talk about cars constantly.
5. Same as if he bought a white one: he'd be mistaken for other people who have a similar model and color. The dark teal tradition started with some people who bought midnight blue vehicles in the 1960s, and found that that particular shade of blue was made with copper and would oxidize to dark teal in a few years. That might have attracted ridicule in the 1970s. By the time I was learning to drive a great-uncle's teal car, blue vehicles stayed blue and teal had to be ordered.
Color doesn't seem to be a big thing here, though, except with people who like an unusual, often unpopular color because it makes their green car or purple truck easy to find. Size is a big thing. Many people live on private roads that demand high clearance, though as I recall Toyota Corollas and Subaru DL's used to ride high enough for most local roads. Some men like oversized vehicles because they are oversized themselves, and I happen to like one of those men. Some men seem to like having to lift their wives or girlfriends in and out of their trucks. Some older women, otoh, seem to like bouncing in and out of big trucks just because they can.
I like small vehicles that get good mileage myself, and bonus points if they fit my short legs, but when I saw the hobbyist's big gas-guzzling Ford truck I said, "Oh, that's the kind my Significant Other always liked!" I, personally, do not enjoy driving anything, because of my astigmatism. I like the idea of the new Ford trucks that can be used as generators, which is something we all need almost every year, and I like the idea of little solar-powered cars, but I couldn't afford a new truck and couldn't picture my Significant Other being motivated to recover by the prospect of riding around in a small car.
So there's this truck. It does not live at my house, where it would be an open invitation to the Professional Bad Neighbor. It's sat on a lot for many years and can sit for a few more. I still drive only when I'm with someone else who is not able to walk or drive. The astigmatism isn't getting better as I grow older. I can still read the bottom line on the eye test, but the last time I drove a car (it was after acquiring the truck, but it was not the truck) I tried to see the side of the road quickly and turn at a normal speed, and got that optical illusion where you see two of something plus a funny little overlapping image between them, just for a second. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, hold two fingers pointing at each other, an inch or two apart, in front of the screen as you read this.) So if I do start driving, I'll be one of those annoying people who always drive very very slowly, causing people to honk and shout about having lost the bleeping funeral procession already.
Walking is so much easier...and safer...and better for the whole world...
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