Make way for Kid Utility Vehicles
As Matt notes the purchase of Sport Utility Vehicles is on the (slight) decline, but the purchase of Kid Utility Vehicles, monster strollers that take up the whole sidewalk, is on the rise.
Even if you don't have kids, you may have heard of the super-swanky Bugaboo, the world's most expensive stroller. But the Bugaboo is kind of like the revamped VW Bugs, it may look cute and cost more, but it doesn't take up a lot of extra space.
A KUV, on the other hand, is designed to hold two kids up to five years old, plus tons of stuff that those kids apparently need. Basically, you can own the sidewalk, which is only a problem for all those poor folks out there who were also hoping to get a piece of the sidewalk. As for those five year olds that can actually walk themselves, they better get out of the way or risk being run over.
As bad, or at least as ridiculous, are the supersize toddler potties, the SUVs of toilet training, so to speak. One offender, the Boon Potty Bench. You could argue that these are better than the KUVs, in that the only space your hogging is the space in your own bathroom. But really, doesn't it seem that any kid who starts out with a king-size potty and then moves on to a hummer of a stroller, can only grow up to think that they, and their parents, own the world?
