Poor Gareth and his H2

Just had to share this story about poor Gareth and his new Hummer H2 - apparently his neighbors objected to seeing his new ride parked out on the "quiet, leafy street in Northwest Washington where Prius hybrid cars and Volvos are the norm".

It lasted five days on the street before two masked men took a bat to every window, a knife to each 38-inch tire and scratched into the body: "FOR THE ENVIRON."

"The thought of somebody vandalizing it never crossed my mind," said Gareth Groves, 32, who lives with his mother in a three-story home in the 4300 block of Brandywine Street NW in American University Park. "I've kind of been in shock."

Now, as Groves ponders what to do with the remains of his $38,000 SUV, he has been the target of a number of people who have driven by the crime scene in his upscale neighborhood and glared at him in smug satisfaction.

"I'd say one in five people who come by have that 'you-got-what-you-deserve' look," said his friend Andy Sexton, 27, who is visiting from Arkansas and has been helping Groves deal with fallout from the crime.

Neighbor Lucille Liem, 37, who owns a Prius hybrid, said that a common sentiment in the neighborhood is that large vehicles are impractical and a strain on the Earth -- and Hummers in particular are a symbol of consumer excess.
...
Groves's mother, Phyllis Groves, 70, said she is sad for her son because he has wanted a Hummer for a while. But even she did not exactly approve of the purchase.

"I teased him because of the gas mileage," she said. "But he wanted a Hummer. He didn't have other gas guzzlers in mind."

He bought the used 2005 vehicle a month ago from a dentist in Fairfax County and left it in a shop for several weeks so it could be outfitted to his specifications -- new, bigger tires and a "lift kit," meaning it would be higher off the ground.

It must have been the "lift kit" that eliminated any doubt in the minds of the vandals that they were doing the right thing.

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UPDATE (7/19/07 at 3:40 PM):

It didn't hit me at first but I knew there was a Hummer/dentist connection somewhere in my past. From a comment on the original Hummer post almost two years ago:

can't remember where i saw it, but:
"you're a dentist, not the left leg of voltron!"