Truck. Truck. Truck. Truck. Truck Truck. Truck. That’s how many times your average pickup truck ad describes their product as just a truck. Only once or twice in the entire piece do they use the full ‘pickup truck’ moniker. A lot of ads deal in wish fulfilment. And it is in our face that pickup truck drivers like to consider themselves truckers.
I don’t consider pickup truck drivers to be truck drivers. There is special training to become even a ‘D’ truck driver. And ‘A’ licences are even harder to come by and involve things like skid training. Pickup truck drivers need none of this. You can drive one if you have an ordinary car licence.
Which is why I wish to call pickup trucks ‘pickup cars’. Not only does it seem more accurate to name those vehicles so, it also helps undo the brainwashing the pickup makers have been foisting down our throats. And if the drivers of these vehicles feel a bit less tough, all the better.
Too often as a pedestrian have I noticed bad driving by pickup drivers. In my experience, it’s way out of proportion to the number of pickups on the road. My current theory is that these drivers are from so far out in the outlying areas that they aren’t used to busy city streets with actual pedestrians. Or at least that’s the theory I can publish because of its lack of swear words.
Since a pedestrian can’t really retaliate against a motorized vehicle at the time, allow me my petty word game. Pickup car. Pickup car. Pickup car. Pickup car. Pickup car. Pickup car.
Of course, now, if I’m ever in a pickle and need something transported by pickup, I guess I might find some of my stuff strewn on the road. Well if I changed even one pickup ad to say truck less often, I consider it worth it.
