Prius Nation

Yes, I did it. I finally bought a Prius. Nothing makes me happier than buying a car that spews fewer fumes into the air, saves me time while also putting less money in the hands of the already-filthy-rich. Sheer contentment. I've been wanting one of these since I first wrote about them for the Washington Post, back in 2000. My car? It's silver. It's adorable. It parks like a dream. It feels like a tin can with no brakes but nothing's perfect. Still, here's the thing; now that the price of gas is careening toward $4.00 /gallon I am so late on this trend that all I seem to see on the road these days are - Priuses! Not just Priuses, but silver Priuses. It's like some Hitchcockian nightmare. Today I went to Trader Joe's, and there were two silver Priuses parked side by side in the lot, neither of them mine. There's a silver Prius parked across from my house every day, also not mine. And then there was last Sunday after my yoga class. I walked back to my car, threw in my mat, got in, inserted the plastic key and tried to start the battery. It wouldn't start. Know why? I was in someone else's silver Prius. Mine was parked two spots up. Know what I think? This isn't a trend, this is an epidemic.