The Prius Game

So the other day, Jon and I were driving around in Berkeley. Probably in the car for a total of an hour, maybe 90 minutes…well, we decided to count Priusii. There seems to be a high concentration of them in this city which is not surprising because most of the inhabitants of Berkeley are Bourgeois Bohemians. A bobo, for short, is basically a group of elite Americans who have a lot of money, yet shun conformity, and the traditional ethos of past generations. They shop at organic farmers markets and recycle and generally try to be hippies, but with all the comforts of an upper class society that tries to shun consumerism, but actually embrace it in their own way. I didn’t make this up. Its from a book I borrowed from dear friend called Bobos in Paradise. It’s by David Brooks in case anyone wants to look it up. In any case, Carrboro is FULL of them. So is Berkeley. So in keeping with their environmentally sound preferences, yet ability to spend thousands on nice cars, Priusii are IN.

I have a point, I promise. As we are driving around and counting we eventually got up to a number in the neighborhood of 38. Pretty high frequency. I consider playing this game daily, but am usually distracted by the strange man with dreads (but only two huge nappy ones) pushing his bike along, or the man who seems to wander every street of north Berkeley who has an unforgettable reverse Mohawk. I guess that’s a nice way to say that he’s bald straight down the middle, but has abundant hair on the sides. Four times I’ve spotted him in the past 2 ½ weeks.

Back to my point…I left my house today to go fill my car up with gas so I didn’t have to do it in the morning on my way to work. (If I wait for tomorrow, I’ll be paying $4.70 instead of $4.60) On the way home, I decided to play my little game. In about a mile and a half of driving back home (note: NOT round trip), I counted 18 Priusii. Eighteen. In a mile a half. Granted, the streets are lined with parallel parking spots, but wow. Just wow. North Berkeley may be home to the greatest concentration of Priusii on the planet. If anyone cares to challenge me, do it. I’ll put money on it.

A final note: I’m not sure if Priusii is a term used in the general parlance of discussing cars, but if it’s not, I’m hereby coining the term. Pass it along.