White people like Vespas

StuffWhitePeopleLike.com recently did a post about Vespas. Per usual it is hilarious and carries a bit of truth to it.

Here is a little excerpt which many people have tried on me.

"see how many of the following justifications a white person will use (for buying a Vespa) during the ensuing rant: environment, parking, urban lifestyles, union labor(what?), writers, fuel efficiency, Roman Holiday, study abroad, and being into Vespas before other people."

I do get the urban stuff and the parking, even the Europe stuff but what about the union labor? What is that all about? And writers? Are writers supposed to ride Vespas? Maybe he is trying to describe the liberal elite. I don't know.

My own reasons are a little more on the practical side. (oh here he goes again - this is exactly what was predicted)

But seriously, there is no equivelant scooter on the market right now. Honda is releasing one next year but it will be more expensive than the Vespa albeit with newer technology. All the other scooters are made by cheap asian manufacturers and the quality is just not there. I am not a real engine/mechanic guy so I really didn't want to end up fixing it all the time.

The vespa is the only full metal chasis scooter in Canada. It is incredibly sturdy and durable for a small bike. And the engine is legendary for being reliable.

The other thing that attracted me to it was that there is reams of info on how to tweak and fix vespas online. Since it is basically the most popular scooter/motorcycle in the world there are a lot of people with a lot of answers.

Finally, why didn't I just buy a motorcycle with twice the engine, manual transmission, and for half the price? Well the last few things I said also apply here but really the main reason is the practicality of a scooter. People try to make their motorcycles practicle for commuting and quick

jaunts to the grocery store but they can never match a scooter for that. They are too big and too serious.

I was never really that into motorcycles but the idea of a scooter instantly appealed to me once I started to think about it.

Plus the Vespa is insanely fun to ride. And that is something I never really counted on.