That is absolutely wild.

And they only put groceries in the back seat because the truck bed is "too dirty"

Far too many people drive 200% of a truck when they really only need 10% of a truck.

Not talking work trucks or weekend warrior trucks, but specifically trucks that have never seen more off road than the lawn, never hauled a load that took up the whole bed, never towed anything near their rating.

Far far too often, it's about keeping up with the neighbors truck.

There was a Miller High Life commercial I used to love. It showed a guy’s hand holding a hose and watering his lawn the “old fashioned way.” Then it showed the neighbor’s brand new SUV in the driveway, and said, “The only ‘off-road action’ this $50,000 monstrosity will ever see if is its owner accidentally backs over a flowed bed,”

Wish I could find that commercial somewhere. Makes me laugh to this day when I see the glorified grocery getters in all their perfectly detailed glory!

I've started seeing US pick up trucks here in the UK in a city and they really are rediculous. Really large (comically so) and the truck bit is open to the elements although I have never ever seen anyone using the truck bit for anything whatsoever. Rediculous waste of space and I'm surprised they're ever legal here.

Hey, maybe they need to be ready to haul full sheets of plywood at any moment

An even better example: the suburbs in general. Every aspect of them.

That reads like a Joni Mitchell lyric.

I mean that in a good way.

Regarding the camera, I do a lot of backpacking and my phone is my only camera. Upgrading to appreciably better camera tech is something I will do. Example (Pixel 6 phone):

This is lacking a target. It's not an example of keeping up with the Jones, it's just an opinion. A rather wild one in which you judge other's motivations as invalid.

I wait until the battery is no longer useful. Unfortunately, the iPhone makes it difficult at best to DIY a battery change, at worst expensive to have it done officially. Taking care of a battery gets it to about 4 years, and then you’re looking at Apple ending support not too long after that. Decent enough time to switch out phones.

Move her in!

For most people, yes I agree with you, however apple has done a very good job at creating products for stupid people. If I have someone ask me for advice on phones or computers I always ask them, do you want to have to think to use it? Do you care if you pay more so you can be lazy? If the answer is no to both of those, Apple is not bad. The end user never has to see a file system, everything is drag and drop. My grandmother was able to figure out the Apple UI in about an hour, and that included learning how a mouse and keyboard worked as she had never used a computer before in her life. It’s a little scary how dumb Apple allows you to be.

For that reason and that reason only I think Apple has a place. If you want to get actual work done / don’t want to pay double for the same thing, Apple’s not for you.

I feel a decoration war would hilariously benefit the neighborhood though.

I have a neighbor that had one of those projecting rotating balls in their yard. It projects Halloween images... it's still running, no xmas decor in their yard. I'm loving it!!

Those are called pavement princess trucks. Trucks that are afraid to touch dirt or mud. If you really want to piss the dude off, refer to it supportively as his gender affirming care.

As someone who has to use them daily since I own a farm...this shit right here has all of us in the construction and farm community pissed....trucks are harder and harder to buy used or buy new with basic shit in them. We're going to be rough on the truck, give us cloth seats and manual crank windows, no sunroofs and a manual transmission...now trucks are like 100k and have fucking heated seats. It's insane.

Living beyond your means to try match the lifestyle or possessions of someone else you envy.

It means when you are trying to look more wealthy/better social status than a neighbor, friend, colleague, ect... Usually though some form of conspicuous consumption.

Thanks for asking for all of us. In Quebec, we call that an inflatable neighbour (translated)

I'm not rich, but decided to flex my landscaping muscle and have the greenest lawn by simply mowing twice per week and not picking up the clippings. The clippings breakdown and provide nitrogen, making a green lawn.

My neighbors have light green lawn and pay a landscaping company...

I have two brothers-in-law that also did that, so...