Tag Archives: Happy Motoring

Cracker Barrel Is Actually Quite Hokey (in my opinion)

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Hokey, Cracker Barrel-style.

Hokey, Cracker Barrel-style.

When I saw the following tweet yesterday afternoon in my Twitter feed from The Atlantic about Cracker Barrel, I was incredulous;

The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic). ” Why Cracker Barrel Isn’t as Hokey as You Think.” 2 March 2013, 4:30 p.m. Tweet.

My first thought was that things have gotten so bad for long-form narrative journalism that The Atlantic had decided to try to siphon off readers from The Onion. Then I clicked on the article link and realized that the writer, Emily Chertoff, was serious as a heart attack about extolling the virtues of Cracker Barrel, or as I now call it (based on my own experience that I’ll detail below), “a Crack in my Ass.” Continue reading →

Train, train

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Amtrak Platform, Freeport, Maine

Amtrak Platform, Freeport, Maine

Today, almost all passenger transportation in the U.S. takes place via automobiles and airplanes. Currently, about 1 percent is by bus and rail, even though both of these are energy efficient options.

Since WWII, the preferred mode of travel has been one person in one car, sometimes referred to by critics of this model as “Happy Motoring.” Many large American cities are notorious for poor public transportation systems and as a result, freeways in and out of most cities are choked with cars idling in traffic during morning and evening rush hours. Continue reading →