- 20 Sep 2011 04:56
#13799758
Two "ist"s battle it out for supremacy
In a lot of angry letters to the editor, people refer to themselves and others as either motorists or cyclists.
As in:
Notice how the author talks about "drivers" as being inseparable from their vehicles. The driver must always be in his car. This makes it look like those street festivals made it impossible for those "motorists" to get around the city.
Meanwhile, for the price of two days gasoline, each of those motorists could have rented a bike, or bought a used one and got around as easily as I do every day. Virtually all of those motorists are also capable of walking or cycling. Or taking a cab. Their car is simply a tool; it doesn't define them.
...
When I sip on a glass of orange juice, do I - at that moment - become an orange-juicist, incapable of eating or drinking anything else?
When I wear white shoes, am I automatically a pre-labor-dayist?
When I chose sandpaper (instead of a plane or chisel) to break the edge of a piece of wood, am I being a sandpaperist? Should I be opposed to all the planists and chiselists who are competing with my choice of tool?
Two "ist"s battle it out for supremacy
In a lot of angry letters to the editor, people refer to themselves and others as either motorists or cyclists.
As in:
Torstar wrote:(street fairs) closed almost every main street for a period and had drivers chewing on their steering wheels, abandoning their cars or fleeing the city
Notice how the author talks about "drivers" as being inseparable from their vehicles. The driver must always be in his car. This makes it look like those street festivals made it impossible for those "motorists" to get around the city.
Meanwhile, for the price of two days gasoline, each of those motorists could have rented a bike, or bought a used one and got around as easily as I do every day. Virtually all of those motorists are also capable of walking or cycling. Or taking a cab. Their car is simply a tool; it doesn't define them.
...
When I sip on a glass of orange juice, do I - at that moment - become an orange-juicist, incapable of eating or drinking anything else?
When I wear white shoes, am I automatically a pre-labor-dayist?
When I chose sandpaper (instead of a plane or chisel) to break the edge of a piece of wood, am I being a sandpaperist? Should I be opposed to all the planists and chiselists who are competing with my choice of tool?