SUVs and Attitude

There's something I distinctly do not like about SUVs. And yet, I have recently joined this ostentatious, take-over-the-road car club. Only because I abhorred the idea of getting a minivan at the time, though since then, I've kind of wished I had considered it... (don't tell the hubby).

We were recently involved in a small car accident, hit by a 2008 Lexus sedan from the back, while stopped at a traffic light. Our bumper was cracked and scratched, our spare tire fell out the bottom of the car, and the left muffler was a bit bent. Nothing major alhamdulillah. But the poor old lady's car was pretty much screwed up. Her hood went up 1/3 of the way, her radiator was leaking fluid and her lights were crushed. She had to be towed out of there.

Everyone told me, you should be thankful, you're in a big, safe car. Otherwise, you might have been hurt more. But all I could think of was, if we had a smaller car, that lady's new Lexus would not have been destroyed.
It's this big consumerist mentality that really bothers me; this American attitude that says, 'You be safe, and who cares if the world around you goes to pieces.' I can't stand that attitude, I can't stand that SUV -buying/driving mentality.
And yet I drive around my first brand-new car, a Mazda CX-9. But in my defense, I must say, it's a space issue. :)