Monday, May 11, 2009

The Black Painted Car? Or the White?

I'm sure you have these riveting discussions in your households as well. Pork or chicken? The brocade or the chintz? Boxwood or privet? Wall-to-wall or area? Tylenol or Advil?

Much discussion can be attached to each of the above. But I am focusing specifically on my title for we have had an on-going friendly verbal fencing for years concerning this very comparison. The first car we bought for me alone was white. Now I had never owned a car before let alone considered white as the perfect color for a vehicle. When questioned the salesman did two things. First, he led me outside the sales room and pointed to the extremely busy road which ran in front of the dealership. "What color really stands out when you look at that traffic?" he asked me. "White." I answered. He congratulated me. "It is the safest color because a driver's eye will pick that color up quicker visually thus accidents have/will be avoided because of their speedier response time." Secondly he took me around the corner of the building where a fellow salesman was standing beside his own white car. "Hey, Steve....how easy is it to keep it clean?" "Super simple. A white car will show less dirt than a darker model."

Hmmmm. Think about that. Mud gets splattered on a black car and a white car. It dries and as it does it becomes paler in color. Thus against the deep backdrop it still "pops" because of the contrast. But against the lighter paint the contrast is less thus fades to the eye. So logical. I'm convinced. My husband not so much. I'll take the white one. Sold!! (OH! I'm still stickin' to my story but I must tell you I now own a black one 25 years later....which I love and just wash more often!!! I call her "Olive". Get it?? ...black olive...)

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