Convenience Over Conscience?

I want another car. I do not need one, I just desire one.

My wife and I currently share one vehicle, which works out just fine most of the time. I walk to work and she uses it for commuting. We share friends and are generally on the same schedule. But, there are times when we each have important things to do that requires each of us have transportation. While this does not happen frequently, it happens often enough. 

That being said, living in an urban environment offers me the option of renting a car via a car-sharing program called WeCar. In fact, I did this very thing last night to get to a meeting. Everything worked out just fine. While the immediate cost of renting the vehicle is momentarily prohibitive, it is extremely cost effective when compared to the cost of owning, insuring, parking, fueling and repairing a vehicle.

Blah. I still want one. I do not know if this almost childish, illogical internal demand for something new is fleeting. I was recently at the auto show here in St. Louis and got to toy around with a bunch of uninspired vehicles, save a few hybrids in which I sat, which is what we would buy. It was good fun.

The absolute cost of the decision is not what is weighing on me; the weight is purely philosophical. I feel like buying another car would make me a hypocrite. Sure, I am not gallivanting around the globe in a personal jet and even if I do get another car I would not be driving it all that much. But still, having only one vehicle has place me in a state of limited mobility. This is a good thing. I am forced to function in a small area and plan my days efficiently. My fear is that I will loose that discipline if I have a vehicle at my disposal. The other half of me thinks that I already do enough to live a green life and that having a car at my disposal is not the terrible sin I sometimes feel it is. 

Is enough ever enough when you can do more? Are we not supposed to be the change we want to see in the world? Grrr.

As aside: St. Louis is not Hong Kong, where I learned today ninety freakin’ percent of people commute via public transit. The transit system here is adequate, but not great. The bad news though is that it is getting worse. Shortsighted voters opted not to increase transit funding last November and now services are being cut. I am rationalizing you see. These cuts are screwing the average St. Louisan, and most of these folks can not afford a vehicle.

I am not sure what we’ll end up deciding but my fear is that convenience will triumph over conscience, at least eventually. It will be easier to play a round of golf (so not green), run an errand, make a meeting or just plain take care of business. I will surely be freer, but getting behind the wheel will in some way also be a step backward.