Althouse: "Vandals scratch sinister message into pensioner’s beloved yellow car because it ruins the view of their picturesque village."

February 4, 2017

"Vandals scratch sinister message into pensioner’s beloved yellow car because it ruins the view of their picturesque village."

"Tourists moaned about the 'ugly' car on medieval Arlington Row, which is on the UK passport’s inside cover.... The word 'Move' had been scratched into the bonnet of the car, and the driver’s side window and rear windscreen had been smashed."

51 comments:

Anonymous said...: "Where every prospect pleases/ And only Man is vile."; 2/4/17, 1:54 PM
Rob said...: Should those of us who are retired refer to ourselves as pensioners?; 2/4/17, 1:55 PM
James Pawlak said...: Tourists from U-California-Berkeley?; 2/4/17, 1:58 PM
buwaya said...: They could have simply waited a century and the car would have been just as picturesque as the village. Its all impatience.

The alternate fix would have been to give the fellow a vintage MGB or something in British racing green. That should have been worthwhile to someone.

Lack of imagination and cheapness too.; 2/4/17, 2:02 PM
buwaya said...: Yes, you are pensioners.

Alternately, in a somewhat broader definition, you are rentiers.; 2/4/17, 2:04 PM
Michael K said...: A cardboard sign on the car would have provided a hint but vandalism seems to be the new normal.; 2/4/17, 2:09 PM
Nonapod said...: So the twits that committed this crime believe aesthetic incongruity justifies the destruction of private property. I'd be curious to see what their faces look like.; 2/4/17, 2:10 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Cars do ruin the scenery. It's bad if you want to do photography.; 2/4/17, 2:14 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm not approving of vandalism.

But if you have to park your car out where it's included in the scenery (including your own gardens by the sidewalk), you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green.; 2/4/17, 2:15 PM
Rae said...: But if you have to park your car out where it's included in the scenery (including your own gardens by the sidewalk), you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green.

Or you could get over yourself and take the picture anyway.; 2/4/17, 2:20 PM
John henry said...: It says the car was "written off" which I take to be the English equivalent of "Totaled" For a broken window and a scratch? Seems a bit extreme.

I blame Trump.

John Henry; 2/4/17, 2:21 PM
Scott said...: British people in situ are not nice.; 2/4/17, 2:21 PM
Unknown said...: Well, Britain is full of leftists. Who's surprised by leftist violence? It's what they apparently do, nowadays.

--Vance; 2/4/17, 2:29 PM
Phil 314 said...: They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot; 2/4/17, 2:32 PM
Drago said...: Unknown: "Well, Britain is full of leftists. Who's surprised by leftist violence? It's what they apparently do, nowadays"

The left has been doing it for several hundred years.; 2/4/17, 2:32 PM
Joe said...: The car is hideous, though the correct approach would have been to collect money and have it repainted.; 2/4/17, 2:37 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Could be worse. Could be an Audi, with all the cultural baggage that entails.; 2/4/17, 2:37 PM
Joe said...: BTW, do remember that vandalism is a huge crime problems in the UK, as the links at the story illustrate all to well.; 2/4/17, 2:39 PM
Drago said...: AReasonableMan: "Could be worse. Could be an Audi, with all the cultural baggage that entails."

One hopes that you are not being so gauche as to allude to the current British royal family's origination within the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

That, Sir, would not be cricket.; 2/4/17, 2:44 PM
LYNNDH said...: "But if you have to park your car out where it's included in the scenery (including your own gardens by the sidewalk), you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green."
I say, that is rather pompous of you.; 2/4/17, 2:49 PM
mockturtle said...: But if you have to park your car out where it's included in the scenery (including your own gardens by the sidewalk), you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green.

WTF???; 2/4/17, 2:57 PM
Comanche Voter said...: In the UK, retired folks are indeed referred to as Old Age Pensioners. I think there's a government scheme somewhat like a combination of our social security system and a welfare dole. But you see signs and references to OAP in numerous places.

At 84 perhaps the retired dentist should be off the road--but it should be his decison (absent running over the local constable) not some twit with a key and rock.; 2/4/17, 3:07 PM
Scott said...: It must be an American idea that you are entitled to own the kind of car you want.

Recently on the Amazon Prime series "The Grand Tour," Richard Hammond speculated that the reason pickup trucks aren't popular in Britain is that pedestrians steal stuff out of the back at stoplights. Maybe that's a little hyperbole for comic effect, but it does reflect a mindset that isn't very charming.; 2/4/17, 3:10 PM
Ambrose said...: Scratched the pensioner's bonnet did they? Blimey, ...; 2/4/17, 3:16 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: So the locals who pay taxes and keep the town alive should suborn their lives to the whims of tourists? How absurd. The Cotswolds are full of picturesque hamlets, including Stratford-on-Avon and the delightful Stowe-on-the-Wold, that are kept pretty much how they looked two or more centuries ago. This reflects poorly on the travelers and whoever harmed this old guy's little yellow car. Sad.

And it really isn't even that yellow! Why I painted by '74 convertible Karmann Ghia screaming Corvette yellow just so it wouldn't look like a faded flower color -- as this guy's car did. Liked it so much that when I rebuilt a '62 Chevy pickup truck I painted that one '75 Corvette Yellow too.

It's the bright color for people who don't want a red vehicle. The pensioner's car was more buttercup than Corvette.; 2/4/17, 3:30 PM
Hagar said...: A TC or TD would be vintage - MGB not so much.

This is what I call a "hysterical area" where you need a neighborhood preservation committee's permission to change anything whatever on the outside of the house, and they are not too fond of your changing anything inside either. My sister and her husband owned one of those and loved it, but then I always said she was born a couple of centuries too late.; 2/4/17, 3:31 PM
Tari said...: Scott said "Recently on the Amazon Prime series "The Grand Tour," Richard Hammond speculated that the reason pickup trucks aren't popular in Britain is that pedestrians steal stuff out of the back at stoplights. Maybe that's a little hyperbole for comic effect, but it does reflect a mindset that isn't very charming."

That would work well in the US, wouldn't it? Because pickup drivers are never armed.

And is it just me, or is Grand Tour five times better than Top Gear ever was? I love it.; 2/4/17, 3:34 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green."
I say, that is rather pompous of you.
2/4/17, 2:49 PM

The word is "cunt," which in England is unisex.

Let people with a beef buy the old gent a new car in their preferred earth tone-put their money where their mouths are.; 2/4/17, 3:39 PM
Andrew said...: "A TC or TD would be vintage - MGB not so much."

Could an 84 year old man get in and out of any of these MGs? I'm 65, I'm not sure I would want to get in and out of my MGA from my college years. Although I wish I'd never got ride of it.; 2/4/17, 3:45 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: I will say the pricing on those repairs is inconceivable. A grand, tops, in real American money. Or maybe everything costs 10 times as much over there, I don't know.

But maybe the insurance company is trying to Defuse The Situation, get rid of the so-called eyesore, and he can buy something new with a look which will appease jerks.

It does look in the photo as if there could be room on the side of the house for a driveway or a carport. And I guess if it came to it, you could get a neutral colored car cover. Still, I think the people who did that should be beaten to death. Yes, literally. Stoning seems appropriate. I take it they haven't outlawed stones in England yet. You just don't mess with a man's Wheels!; 2/4/17, 3:46 PM
Hagar said...: Go try out a Mazda/Ford Miata. It is what the MGB ought to have been.; 2/4/17, 3:52 PM
Scott said...: @Tari: I think The Grand Tour is at least as good as Top Gear. I wish they could do a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment, and I'm not a big fan of "Celebrity Brain Crash." But I like the exotic locations. Driving across the deserts of Nambia to the border of Angola was jaw-dropping. They've finished the first season, and I'm looking forward to the next one!; 2/4/17, 4:10 PM
Fernandinande said...: Joe said...
BTW, do remember that vandalism is a huge crime problems in the UK, as the links at the story illustrate all to well.

I liked the tale of the Serbian prostitute with the high-profile politician boyfriend and a supernumerary nipple.; 2/4/17, 4:11 PM
rehajm said...: But if you have to park your car out where it's included in the scenery (including your own gardens by the sidewalk), you should choose a recessive color for your car -- black or gray or dark green.

Says the woman who drives a rolling cold sore.; 2/4/17, 4:11 PM
gadfly said...: Peter Shammas, the reporter in this piece, also wrote a story, in maddening one-sentence paragraphs, about the topless photographs of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge - you know, the ones that show Kate Middleton fooling around with her husband, Prince William, while on holiday in France.

Wake me later.; 2/4/17, 4:20 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Well... maybe he should have been period correct and had a horse and carriage tied up outside his house. The horse could contribute piles of authentic horseshit and added to the "atmosphere" of the picturesque town.

Then to further make the town authentic, some chickens roaming around and pooping everywhere while the house wives and servants throw out the contents of slops buckets and chamber pots onto the cobbled streets. I think there should be some random pick pockets and beggars with open sores as well.; 2/4/17, 4:33 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Oh...I forgot the squealing pigs also running loose through the streets, also crapping everywhere. You haven't lived until you have smelled authentic pig poop. And some mangy dogs and flea ridden stray cats too.

Yeah. Those picturesque medieval towns were a blast to live in. Shame those people didn't have Iphones or apps to take photos back then to preserve the atmosphere and authentic look. Smell-o-vision would also be helpful too to capture the charm!; 2/4/17, 4:39 PM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Hagar said...
Go try out a Mazda/Ford Miata.

That's a girls car.; 2/4/17, 4:40 PM
rehajm said...: I wish they could do a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment, and I'm not a big fan of "Celebrity Brain Crash."

It's prohibitive to do a segment like 'Star' since the tent travels the world and week to week isn't close to the test track like the setup used at Dunsfold. But I agree they could easily find a superior alternative to 'Brain Crash'.; 2/4/17, 4:50 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Or you could get over yourself and take the picture anyway."

That makes no sense.

Either there is a sight you want a picture of or you don't. A yellow car in front of ancient buildings could be a picture you want, but it's not the same picture.; 2/4/17, 4:54 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "I say, that is rather pompous of you."

Why? I do it even for myself. I've always parked my car in the driveway, and I would not buy a car in a color that stood out and drew too much attention to it. I'd like a red car, but I would not get one, because it would stick out too much and detract from the overall view. I wouldn't even get a white car. It's not pompous. It's a matter of taste.

I also think -- and I have blogged this -- that if you go to a theater where you're sitting right next to the stage, you should wear dark colors including dark shoes.; 2/4/17, 4:59 PM
mockturtle said...: DBQ: Excellent! ;-D; 2/4/17, 5:00 PM
Tari said...: I don't miss the "Star", but I do think the celebrity bit is already old. Hopefully it will disappear next season. I don't think they need to have guests, living or freshly dead. It's the banter between the 3 of them combined with the locations (and, of course, the cars) that make it worth watching.; 2/4/17, 5:07 PM
campy said...: Should those of us who are retired refer to ourselves as pensioners?

I tell people I'm retired but I receive no pension. (I worked for a few years, then quit to take care of our children while my wife became sole breadwinner. I never worked for pay again.); 2/4/17, 5:07 PM
Hagar said...: You should not get a red car - or at least not bright red - because it attracts attention from cops, and you should not get a white or black car because they show every litle bit of dirt and water spots.; 2/4/17, 5:26 PM
Unknown said...: Someone in England should start a fund to get this car fix or buy a new one. If I was in England,I would do it. His house, his car and no one, especially crappy tourist, should bother him.; 2/4/17, 5:35 PM
n.n said...: Choice.; 2/4/17, 6:07 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I can relate. We live in our town's Snob Nob (though the people are certainly not snobs) and everyone keeps their lawns and shrubberys immaculate most people are very house-and car-proud. Alas, it is I that owns the turd in the punchbowl. A 1994 Toyota Tercel with leprously oxidized red paint, numerous dings and scratches, and upholstery that appears to be molting. Now, we have three late model cars but I can't bring myself to discard this eyesore. It's been freakishly reliable in it's 23 years, needing only oil changes, tires and brakes. It has never let us down. My wife and both sons learned to drive a stick in it and it has served my sons in succession as their indifferent-to-the-perils-of-the-high-school-parking-lot ride. My neighbors are far too nice of people to ever say anything directly to us about how unsightly the car is but I know they're thinking it. Perhaps when our youngest leaves home I'll junk it, but I'm just as likely to use it for a fair weather hooptie that I can smoke cigars in.; 2/4/17, 6:09 PM
urbane legend said...: Hagar said...
You should not get a red car - or at least not bright red - because it attracts attention from cops, . . .

Is a red compact pickup ok? The constabulary doesn't appear to notice it. I've never gotten a ticket in it. Or the the two green cars, or the blue one, or the black one, or the grey SUV, or the . . . Hmmmm, maybe it isn't the red?; 2/4/17, 7:21 PM
mockturtle said...: Cracker, when I was in my early teens my father owned an ugly old primered pickup truck and he loved to pick me up at the Country Club in that thing. Come to think of it, he often parked it at the Club while he played golf, too, even though he had two other cars. No one ever complained, though. I don't think there was anything in the charter about vehicles' appearance. He got some kind of perverse pleasure out of it but it annoyed the hell out of me when I was 13.; 2/4/17, 7:31 PM
Big Mike said...: @DBQ, would you settle for a classic VW Beetle instead of a horse cart? Maybe a 3 wheeled Reliant Robin? How about a Morgan?; 2/4/17, 8:06 PM