Beat and Beaten

[jm]

Jeff writes:

  I recall in about 1975 seeing a beatup psychedelic
>dayglo out-of-state hippy VW bus with sleeping bags and gear tumbling out
>the back door, parked on the main drag of my college town, with a battered
>paperback of "On the Road" prominently displayed on the dashboard (cause).

Yeah, except the occupants of a hippie VW would never have used the word
"gear." "Stuff," perhaps, but never "gear."  I'm waiting for the day when
we'll see a battered Lexus SC300 (no ugly spoilers on the SC300) wiv at
least one primer-coated fender, some "empties" rollin' around on the floor,
and a battered hardcover _GR_ ostentatiously displayed atop a badly-cracked
dashboard.               -jm