I, Anonymous Nov 1, 2012 at 4:00 am

Sorry Miss Daisy

Comments

1
I've been carless by choice for nearly ten years. It's not a stupid decision, though it will seem that way to many who drive every day and can't imagine any other way to live. There are lots of us who bike year-round, use TriMet, car sharing programs, taxis, and offer gas money or otherwise return the favor when we do get a ride. So, it's certainly not "synonymous with 'be my taxi.'" But I guess lazy generalizations are part and parcel of I,A.

Anyway, this is a real matter of etiquette. Some of my friends wouldn't want to be carless themselves, so they feel sorry for me biking or taking TriMet even though I really don't mind it. So when they strenuously offer to pick me up, I usually say it's fine, I'll just meet you there. When the weather's really bad or a TriMet trip would be upward of 90 minutes, it makes sense to just carpool. I'm perfectly willing to chip in for gas, but when swinging by my place takes a friend out of their way 3 miles for maybe a 15 mile total trip, and their car gets 25 MPG, how much does my share of the gas come out to?
Not to mention that literally every time I've held out $10 and said, "Please let me help pay for some gas," they wave it away and insist it's unnecessary. So eventually one stops trying to insist on giving cash. It can be awkward to try to pay a friend for a small favor. If we were going out of town it'd be different, or if we were still young and broke. What I've found makes the relationship work is, my friends do something nice for me, and I do something nice for them. Instead of trying to pay for gas for a short trip, I find it's better to just pick up a tab for them at a bar, cafe, or food cart. Every so often, just say, "Let me get this," and it more or less evens it out.
2
What a dumb post. I guess every man, woman and child should own a car!

Damn my Children! HITCHING FREE RIDES? JESUS.
3
my ex got zipcar...havent heard from her since. thanks zipcar.

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