X///M a career hazard for some?

[Roadster]

interesting tread...
I experience the same thing from time to time with my X5 (no, not an M...)
As I work in the construction business (I own my engineering company), I travel around a lot from one construction site to another so most of the time I'm spotted upon arrival... (parking the X just in front of the site offices is a giveaway too, I admit, but having a 4x4 allows me to do so rather than parking 15min's away...)
As I'm only 33, most of the people I do business with are (a lot) older but drive around in smaller, medium brand cars so I get the envy look from time to time. What they don't know is that I put in long hours, even in the weekends or at night whenever necessary so I think I've 'earned' driving my X5 around.
As far as my employees go, I would be somewhat jealous if one of them should show up in an X5M, but then again, whatever he does in his private time is none of my business...

It's not cool to be the richest guy in the graveyard, so you should enjoy your possibilities whenever you can and not live your life thinking 'what if...'

[SandmanTR]

Originally Posted by Roadster

It's not cool to be the richest guy in the graveyard, so you should enjoy your possibilities whenever you can and not live your life thinking 'what if...'

Great comment.

[ravenheart]

Well - there are some petty people out there - I think however that the real issue is not about other peoples envy but more about feeling guilty about having something nice. Be at peace with driving what makes you happy and don't get worked up if people make snyde comments.

I find that the people who get in trouble because of the car they drive are usually over-protective about said car. IE they will make a point of parking away from others or they will boast - both are a sure fire way of getting unwanted attention. If you are not overly worried about your car most people are not going to give a rats arse.

As for all the hondas and toyotas in the parking lots - I think that is just people who don't much care for cars and just want something to get them around. Different strokes for different people. Maybe they sink the money into their house or their nest eggs. Good for them, but I would rather drive a fun car

[C's Bimmer]

You could just debadge the car or put a Honda Emblem in place of the rear roundel. :p

[evolver]

Originally Posted by C's Bimmer

You could just debadge the car or put a Honda Emblem in place of the rear roundel. :p

VTEC just kicked in, yo!

[Gigiti]

Is it a career hazard... yes! After people found out I bought a Maserati Granturismo I was called into a closed door meeting with the president and vice president of the company and was told not to drive the car to work or anything work related.

[SandmanTR]

Originally Posted by Gigiti

Is it a career hazard... yes! After people found out I bought a Maserati Granturismo I was called into a closed door meeting with the president and vice president of the company and was told not to drive the car to work or anything work related.

WOW. Just speechless. What work industry, if you don't mind me asking?

[HIRISC]

Originally Posted by Gigiti

Is it a career hazard... yes! After people found out I bought a Maserati Granturismo I was called into a closed door meeting with the president and vice president of the company and was told not to drive the car to work or anything work related.

Behind your back whispers are one thing, that kind of overt pettiness is shocking.

Did you ask why they were making the request?

[wallieX5]

When parking, I used to just stay in my car and try to duck when my colleagues is walking in or out of the building. I gave up now since everyone knows my car.
I used to tell people that my father-in-law bought the car for my wife and I as a wedding gift.

However, this will be my last nice car that I will ever drive to work; my next car will be a weekend only car.

I think it is just better to avoid the headache in the first place even though quite a few of my colleagues have boats that cost about a $1k to fill-up.

[alexmish]

I can relate a lot, although I am yet to feel the effect and most of my managers and co-workers know what I drive.

My take on this - I DONT CARE WHAT THEY THINK. If someone is stupid enough to judge me by what I drive, they aint worthy my time in this world. Because next thing you know they will judge you by the size of your house, etc. And then it will be Soviet Union all over again .

I do realize that I have a luxury of saying "screw them" - as some people dont have that luxury. Well, in that case I feel sorry for you.

I do have a different but similar issue with my neigbors - I probably have the cheapest house on the block but the most expensive cars in the driveway. That is because I bought the house 12+ years ago, when I was just starting my career/current job and did not have much money but wanted to live in a good schools area as my wife was expecting. I still want to live in that area, even though I can afford a more expensive place, but that is not the point. The point is that people know that I work on Wall Street...and with all recent negative publicity about Wall Street it does not help. What people dont realize is that I work in IT/backoffice, having nothing to do with whatever decisions are being made on the business front office, and could have done the same job for the same salary working elsewhere. I just happen to manage my spending wiser, and both myself and my wife work. Well, even with them, I dont give a flying f..k what they say or think about my cars, and I made it quite clear to them a few times by giving stares when hearing comments about "how nice a car you drive, you must be well off". My real friends, some rich & some poor, dont judge me by how I dress, where I live or what I drive, and I indend to keep it that way. Otherwise, I might just as well pack and move back from where I came 20 years ago - a cold red country across the ocean .