Are they stupid?

Well yes, but that's besides the point here.

Believe it or not, it came from the factory with a lower step. This one was added after the fact for appearance but is about three inches higher. It was actually her idea. She hated the look of the original and I agreed.

The truck is my primary vehicle. Here’s a summary of its use:

• Towing: We own a 12,000lb camper that we’re using as a primary residence while we build a house. This alone justifies the expense of the truck given how affordable a camper / truck is monthly vs rent now. I also own a 6,000lb mini-excavator and rent other heavy equipment. I estimate about eight uses for this purpose in the last year. Once the house is done, the truck and the camper will be used for a few long distance road trips before we sell the camper.
• Payload Capacity: You’d be surprised how quickly 80lb bags of concrete mix or stacks of lumber add up, quickly exceeding the rated capacity of a smaller truck. I estimate a dozen uses of hauling in the bed that exceeded 1,200lb or more in the last year.
• Commuting: I work remotely in a desk job most days so it sits in the driveway for the majority of the week. I estimate 50 trips into the office within the past year.
• Leisure: We occasionally drive it for errands or weekend activities, but it’s often more practical to take my girlfriend’s Mazda. I estimate two dozen uses for this purpose in the last year.

So that’s about ~74 trips where a truck is not needed and about ~20 trips where it has been invaluable. In my personal opinion, the sheer convenience of ownership outweighs alternatives such as renting when a need arises.

Planning activities around truck rentals would significantly delay / impact progress on my home and frankly, it would add a large amount of stress / reduce motivation to complete work. The nearest rental place is thirty minutes away and they don’t offer trucks with fifth wheel hitch compatibility. It would be another hurdle in an already complicated process.

https://lemmy.world/comment/13771196

Trust me, I get it. There was a brief period of overlap where I owned a condo in a downtown area with this truck. Most of my movement within the city was walking so I’d often encounter vehicles with a complete disregard for the safety of pedestrians.

In my personal opinion, it’s typically the attitude of the driver that impacts my safety in a crosswalk more than the type vehicle. I’ve almost been run over by tuned civics racing between lights, clueless tourists in a Prius gawking at buildings, city busses, and the occasional truck driver who has never driven downtown before. Like any type of vehicle, I believe awareness of your surroundings and limitations of the vehicle is key to ensuring your safety and the safety of others.

Ha. Was there a question in there somewhere?

I always find it helps to engage with people and understand their situation before being a judgmental asshat. You might find it difficult to sway people to your point of view with that attitude.

Ford calls it Glacier Gray Metallic.