So this weekend I had the very odd sensation of riding in a Hummer. We were renting a car from Hertz in New Haven, and, once we'd returned the car, Hertz drove us back to the station (a trip of five minutes) in their yellow Hummer.

It was, of course, a monster. It represents everything venal and stupid about our consumption patterns in this country, as well as the blinkered profiteering of the auto and petroleum industries. But what I found most bizarre was how damn difficult it was to get in or out of the car. I'm pretty spry, but I am nearly 6 foot 2 inches tall, so I need leg room. The board you use to launch yourself up was too narrow for my feet, there wasn't enough leg room between the front seat and the back, and it was really hard to get out of the vehicle without simply falling out. And these are the vehicles used to ship troops around in Iraq?!

Anyway, hopefully I'll never have to get in one of these things again. But if anyone tells me how comfortable and safe they are, I might just fall out of my subway seat laughing.