August 12 - Chicken or Egg

I am a car guy. Not so much the bench racing grease under the fingernails type, but I truly love to drive. Given the choice between driving to a city 4 hours away by car versus flying, I'll drive every time. I like cars that make driving more enjoyable. Cars that make you feel more "connected" whatever that means. So, I like to drive cars that some folks think are pretentious. Except I liked to drive (and ride in) them since before they symbolized pretention so I don't think that applies to me, really.

I get it from my Dad. He like cars too. I first remember riding in a Jaguar XJ6 and 12. Later BMWs and Porsches and Mercedes. My first car was a BMW 318i in 1984. I really feel I need to point out, again, that this was before BMWs symbolized yuppies and pretention. Before the joke, "What is the difference between BMW owners and porcupines" was invented. "With porcupines, the pricks are on the outside" is the answer, BTW. I should point out that we come from Canada, though my Dad is naturalized American, now. That is important for the next bit.

Canada is a well described as a middle class country. Not too many truly poor due to a strong welfare system. Not too many truly rich due to an equally heavy tax burden. I travel to Canada fairly frequently now as my primary client is there. Over dinner one night a Canadian and I got into a discussion about how Americans "love their cars". The clear opinion on the other side of the table was that Americans are all wrapped up in how their cars make them look. Just as clearly was a certain pride that Canadians don't seem to have such cares. Except...

I'm Canadian. They insisted that my love of cars (driving performance, really) was a byproduct of living in the U.S. for the last 20 years. Except...

My Dad was Canadian, too, and I picked up the car and driving love long before we moved to the U.S.

Tonight, I sit in a hotel room in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I just got back from dinner. I noticed a few more BMW M3's in that last few hours than I would have at home, but for the most part the car population was just a bit more conservative. Not terribly. Mostly I did not see any of the larger luxury cars.

Anyway, back to the discussion, and the title of the post. I find myself asking the question, do Canadians a) really not into cars? or b) not into cars because their means don't permit that luxury. In other words, are Canadians middle class by choice or by force? If the latter, do them just profess to be happy with their lot and look down at those who accomplish, and acquire, more? Very broad generalizations here. My client, here, just bought a brand new Infiniti G35. He loves it, but wrestles with the idea that it makes people think he is pretentious. What a shame that he can't just enjoy it.

When I heard him tell me that, I realized that Canadians are perhaps just as car conscious as Americans. Perhaps just as image conscious, that is, with a slightly different set of values. The question remains, is the system, here, a product of the values or are the values a product of the system? As with most such questions, a bit of both, probably.

P.S. I need to note that on both sides of the border, I know many folks who couldn't give whit about cars other than their ability to get from point a to point b. That's probably a more healthy, if not enjoyable point of view. Kind of like preferring a bowl of oatmeal to eggs, bacon and toast with butter.
P.P.S. I also acknowledge that these are sweeping generalizations that need to be given context on a person by person basis.