A couple months ago, my cousins and I picked up a rental car for a trip “up north.” We’d won the use of the rental car free of charge, at a local dealership shindig.

They gave us this thing, a 2010 Buick Lucerne. Black with chrome trim. It had about 300 miles on it. If that.

I immediately called my insurance company to make sure I was fully covered if I drove the thing. I wasn’t gonna fool around with a $45,000 car. Finding I was good to go, we gleefully packed the thing and headed off on our weekend trip.

Driving this thing felt great. It was kinda like Cinderella’s carriage; beautiful, but I’d be back in my own pumpkin in three days. I made the most of it, though. Leather seats, all the buttons you could stand to push, gadgets galore, and a smooth, solid ride. Plush, fast, and just mean enough looking to be taken seriously, this Buick was an elegant highway war machine.

It felt great to pull this thing up to the resort we were staying at. Doormen lept to assistance, offering to take our bags. Mind you there’s times I’ve pulled up to this place in our nondescript cars and didn’t get that kind of enthusiasm.

I noticed that people did treat us differently in this car. On the highway, other cars moved over so I could pass; people didn’t cut me off ; people didn’t park so close. We were given a wide berth and treated more deferentially than usual.

The moral of this story is…people do judge you and your worth by what you drive. I’ve suspected this for years, after suffering harrassment by law enforcement for driving beaters most of my life. But at no time was it as proven, or apparent, as when I was driving this thing.

In my daily commute, I drive a 2009 Pontiac G5. It’s the first brand new car I’ve ever bought for myself, in my life. It’s a good little car, and I like it. On the freeway, however, it’s not taken seriously. People cut me off. They swoop up on my bumper and try to push me down the road. Most drivers along my route are fairly decent, but in the most aggressive rush hours, this little Pontiac is not the war machine that big Buick is. Not that the Pontiac doesn’t serve me well; it does.

What you drive makes a difference, though. I’m convinced.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.