Mom and dad are buying a stroller soon. They like the three-wheeled jogging strollers. They look stylish, sturdy, maneuverable. Like they'd survive and perhaps even prosper in a post-apocalyptic landscape. It would take only a minimal amount of duct tape and PVC pipe; there would be very little steam-punking required of its original feature set. A lot of young parents in Ashland like three-wheeled jogging strollers, too. Your mom and dad don't jog.
Your Lola Claire ("Lola" is Filipino for "grandma") wants to buy the stroller for you. She had your Aunt Jessica call and tell us. "Just buy the one you want and I'll drop the money off with you guys." That's how most gift-giving works with your Lola.
Having to be able to afford the stroller in the first place accomplishes two things. One, your mom and dad can't buy a six-hundred dollar perambulator. Yes, they know that "European styling is back." But the stroller companies aren't going to make it an affordable comeback by any means. Two, it's made your mom and dad scratch their heads over several customer reviews listing cons such as "cup holders are too small," "speakers face towards baby instead of parent," and "handbrakes don't bring stroller to a complete stop."
So your mom and dad naturally have to ask, "Do you only drink Big Gulps?," "Is music such a good idea when you're jogging with your child three feet in front of you?," and "Shouldn't that prevent baby from catapulting out of the stroller during a poorly-judged braking session?" One customer review also mentioned that her stroller was stolen when she wasn't looking. There was no mention of what became of her baby.
Jeep makes strollers? Your dad wonders why Honda or Nissan haven't gotten into that same cross-marketing plan. There could be a lot of inexpensive strollers outfitted with loud mufflers and oversized spoilers, glistening with stickers of Chinese virtues. Prosperity. Wisdom. Integrity. Compassion, for good measure. Perhaps Chrysler and General Motors could've offset losses by exploring the baby stroller market, too.
