The Bus Driver's Tale

Bus drivers have the most interesting stories. Usually they are about crazy riders, crazy drivers, or other bus drivers who are crazy. However, one bus driver told me a story that made me kind of angry on his behalf.

He was a middle-aged man, and as many men that age are wont to do, he saved his money and bought a really sweet sports car. Mid-life crisis? Who knows? The point is, he had always wanted one and he could finally afford to do it. So he drove around happily in his new car for just a few months until deciding it was too much trouble, and then he sold it.

I suppose you are thinking, "Oh, those silly sports cars are so high maintenance!" That may be, but that wasn't the problem he had with it. The problem was this: he was constantly being pulled over by the cops, who demanded to know where he had gotten the car, and he was tired of them hassling him even though he could always prove that he had purchased the car legitimately. The problem was DWB: Driving While Black. Why a middle-aged black man would be any less likely to have bought himself a sports car than a middle-aged white man is beyond me, but the cops must have thought it was suspicious. I say that ridiculous male mid-life desire to drive a really expensive car knows no racial bounds. It's just how men are. But it is disheartening to think that just because your skin happens to be a little darker, you can't indulge in such luxuries. It could be argued that there are wiser ways to spend money, but who does it hurt if this man chooses to buy himself a slick ride with his hard-earned money? Whoever heard of middle-aged men going around stealing sports cars? And what I'd like to know is if those cops are hassling young white guys with sweet sports cars:

"Excuse me, sir, how can someone your age afford a car like this?"
"My trust fund!"
"A likely story. Do you have any proof of this so-called 'trust fund'?"

OK, so that would be ageist rather than racist, but I feel a lot more sympathy for the man who saved his pennies for years to buy a car than some spoiled brat who has never worked a day in his life racing around in a car his parents bought him.

Famous Hat