I respectfully beg to differ


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Posted by Dave jensen on Saturday, March 08, 2003 at 2:01AM :

In Reply to: Honor the Power Wagon posted by Gordon Maney on Friday, March 07, 2003 at 11:33PM :

May I please wax eloquent here? I'll cut back on my usual drivel posts to make up for it.

As John Goodman says in the big Lebowski, "...are we going to argue semantics here?" With all due respect, the metaphysical approach doesn't work. First you're saying it's obviously wrong to call a WC or M-37 a "PW" because it wasn't called that by Walter Chrysler and crew. Then you're saying it's somehow dishonoring PWs to call W300s etc. "PW"s even though that's the name the co. gave them. What you're saying is that they might be PWs in name, but not in "SPIRIT." It's the same thing Donald McCaig said (going by memory here): "You may see the words "Power Wagon" on a newer truck, but that's all they are, words." I agree with the sentiment, but if you want to play this like a religion, you have to go back and talk like a preacher, "OK, what is the true and holy spirit of the divine wagon we call POWER?" I grew up with working people: Cat skinners, farmers, loggers...some hippies too, many who are long dead, who absolutely KNEW that a WC was a "Power Wagon." To them a WDX was a "Big Power Wagon" and a bit of an oddity because it cost a huge amount of hard-to-get cash compared to the surplus rigs. These folks would also think it's kind of funny that we have the time to spend an evening having this discussion in cyber, or any other, space.

I don't really like the mental image (i always see a '46CJ2A front clip) but there's nothing wrong with "ff PW", it's a lot shorter than: "military-style civilian Power Wagon". Sure we fix and talk about these trucks and that's why we need specific langauge. But beyond that it's a silly game. "Respect" isn't spit and polish and talking nice. You get respect for a truck when your backside is in the driver's seat and you work it pulling logs, towing haywagons, hauling lumber and winching yourself out of mudholes day after day, year after year. You respect it if it saves your butt and gets the job done and you cuss it if it doesn't. That's the reason these old trucks have become legendary, they served as tools for hardworking people. And that's why so many of them are in the shape they are, too much respect and too few oil changes.



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