Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

Chindogu

My nomination for a chindogu would be the automatic power doors that have shown up on minivans lately.

First off, who makes up the biggest target audience for minivans? Families. Okay, so it is definitely true that small children might have difficulty opening a sliding van door. If, however, your kid is too young/small to open a door on their own, then you darn well oughta be there when that door is opened. My son is three and a half and can take off his seatbelt and even open the door on his own. Still, I would never let that door open without being there to make sure he doesn't end up running into the street. So if you're going to be there at the door when it opens, couldn't you simply open it? Keep in mind that these automatic doors are mind-numbingly slow; even if you really are that lazy, don't you have better things to do than wait for a door?

What if your kids are old enough to get in and out of the van on their own -- teenagers, for example? Surely they would be able to door themselves; do people really not know why we have a problem with childhood obesity in this country? When I was a teenager, opening a van door was about the least of my worries; the effort -- even on a full-size van -- was negligible compared to everything else I had to do throughout the day.

Now, I understand full well -- from personal experience -- that there are indeed situations where this sort of thing is a necessity and provides people with a freedom of mobility they might not otherwise have. I also understand that mainstreaming the technology makes it cheaper for them. All of that is good. It doesn't, however, make any less of a folly for the majority of minivan owners.

Rather than developing technologies to support our amazing capcity for laziness or finding new and innovative ways to restrain one's beverage, perhaps the automobile manufacturers could concentrate on making vehicles safer and more reliable? Nah, where's the profit in that?