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Monday, January 5, 2009 12:00 AM

Did I just buy an SUV?

I didn't mean to. I am an environmentalist. Really. But before I knew it, there it was, in front of my house.

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  • Tuesday, January 6, 2009 06:55 AM

    What is it about space?

    I think we ought to ask ourselves why we all crave so much space. I grew up in a family with three kids, and my parents drove a VW Beetle. Three kids, two adults, and the groceries in the Beetle. We went on vacation with a couple of suitcases. It worked. We sat next to each other and actually touched, and somehow we didn't explode or break into a million little fragments. We talked and argued and played and sang two-part harmonies in the car. But everybody needs "space" these days, and the space is now turning into isolation. We plug in headphones, go watch different TVs in different rooms, play video games on different machines. Each person gets a bathroom; no more elbowing your sister out of the way when brushing teeth. That would be interaction! Horrors! Families who have the extra money buy extra cars for the kids. Some people have three or four cars. It's almost as if we don't actually like each other and don't want to be close to anyone, even the members of our own families.

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