10th Annual Cruisin' Downriver - MI
On Saturday evening, June 27, 2009 my wife and I headed to the 10th Annual Cruisin' Downriver and WHAT an experience... and will not be going back again!
The plan was to cruise up and down Fort Street a few times and dinner at a local restaurant. Well… some of it did happen. My wife and I had dinner at the Ram's Horn Restaurant, the food and service was good. But we only cruised Fort Street only one-and-a-half times. Why? I was not prepared for the crude comments from the spectators along the route. They are a different breed at the Cruisin' Downriver! I have been to the Woodward Dream Cruise, Clinton Twp Gratiot Cruise, Cruisin’ Michigan Avenue, Port Huron Cruise Night and the Grand Rapids Metro Cruise and the spectators at those events have been courteous and friendly.
Even when I passed in front of the WOMC display at Meijer's caught me by surprise. A woman, on the microphone and speaker system, shouted out, "Hey there goes a smart car... I wouldn’t want to be in THAT in an accident." She must not have a college degree. I do hope she drives a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Pickup Truck with air bags.
If you go to the Consumer's Report website and watch the actual crash videos. The smart car does better than the Silverado in the same side impact crash test.
The plan was to cruise up and down Fort Street a few times and dinner at a local restaurant. Well… some of it did happen. My wife and I had dinner at the Ram's Horn Restaurant, the food and service was good. But we only cruised Fort Street only one-and-a-half times. Why? I was not prepared for the crude comments from the spectators along the route. They are a different breed at the Cruisin' Downriver! I have been to the Woodward Dream Cruise, Clinton Twp Gratiot Cruise, Cruisin’ Michigan Avenue, Port Huron Cruise Night and the Grand Rapids Metro Cruise and the spectators at those events have been courteous and friendly.
Even when I passed in front of the WOMC display at Meijer's caught me by surprise. A woman, on the microphone and speaker system, shouted out, "Hey there goes a smart car... I wouldn’t want to be in THAT in an accident." She must not have a college degree. I do hope she drives a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Pickup Truck with air bags.
If you go to the Consumer's Report website and watch the actual crash videos. The smart car does better than the Silverado in the same side impact crash test.
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Comment by Mr. Incredible on June 30, 2009 at 10:11pm - I did get a chuckle out of one car there. A few teenagers were in an older Dodge Neon and they took brown cardboard and clear tape to make the car look like a "tuner' car. I like the front spoiler and rear deck lid wing all in brown corrugated cardboard.
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Comment by wiltjk on June 30, 2009 at 7:31pm -
Makes me think of my son's story when visiting his college friends yesterday.
They found 4-week old kitten and brought it to their apartment. The video of the kitten was typical playfulness unaware of the world around it as she played. Their 2 year-old cat walked up, observed, hissed, and walked away.
The smart, like the kitten, is harmless, playful, and fun. Yet, it is very threatening to others for some reason. They have to hiss out some statement, usually about safety as that's all their assumptive thinking can conjure up.
I would advise to simply ignore it and get back to playing and having fun. After all, smarts are fun. High mileage and safety are extra bonuses!
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Comment by George Oller on June 30, 2009 at 5:53pm - I go to a lot of car shows and cruise-ins in the southeast. I have three special interest cars other than my Brabus coupe. I hear a lot of comments about how I did this or that on one of my cars. Sometimes, I will ask the person how they would do the modification on their show car. The usual comment is "Oh, I don't have a show car, I drive an old Toyota pick up". Forget the snide comments, and enjoy your car and your mods and let the naysayers go home in their pice of crap car. George.
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