The Influence of Cars in the 20^th Century

A seventy-eight year old man looks at a picture of his eight beloved grandchildren posing together, and a crooked smile appears on his aged, wrinkly face. Now a widower, he resides alone in Los Angeles. Ever since Han Jeon Hong was born and raised in Seoul, Korea from 1928 to 1979, he migrated to America to live a better life. His experiences in learning about American currency, language and living conditions helped him to adapt to a new and better lifestyle. His children and grandchildren visit him every other week, bringing him his favorite Korean dish, Bulgogi, and the usual Kimchi. Though having lived alone since 1996 has been tough and lonesome, Han Jeon Hong is thankful for the family, support and transportation provided everyday. He has his own car to drive when grocery shopping, visiting his children and grandchildren and especially when he feels too cooped up inside of his too small, single-room apartment. Auto vehicles, he says, is a needs of transportation that he uses every single day.

I was born in a small village in northern part of South Korea on July 24, 1928. Even though I liked my town, it was too small for me and I wanted to go to the big city. The small village that I was born and raised in had only about 50 residents. I knew I would be offered the best education, and so I enrolled in Seoul, the capital city. My only transportation was walking, riding a bicycle or riding on the streetcars.

When I heard and learned about cars, it sounded amazing to me. I wanted to ride and drive it. It seemed so luxurious from they way I heard about it. As a young boy, it was an amazing thing in my life to look at a car for the very first time. Of course I never even thought about owning one because they were extremely expensive, and only the rich people could buy it. In my time before cars were an everyday thing, vehicles were more of a status symbol of the government officials. Only the richest were able to afford it.

I rode my bicycle around. Sometimes I rode streetcars and the buses, but I usually waited a minimum of 30 minutes just for the bus to arrive. There were many streetcar stops and signs for them, but as buses gradually started to regulate more often, there weren’t as streetcars started to lessen after that. It was because buses were much faster and safer than streetcars were. It was also more convenient. Then the same thing became for cars as well.

When I came to America at the age of 51, I did several different jobs: handyman, building maintenance and my favorite job was working as an apartment manager. That job helped earn a lot of money, it was satisfying. 

I wondered how motor vehicles ran on gas; it actually went very fast. In America I purchased a used car with a loan at the age of 51. My first thoughts were, ‘Oh no, how am I going to pay for this car?’ It was hard and I had a lot of financial burden, monthly payments and insurance to think about, but I handled it. Driving was fun, and that made paying for the loans seem better. I was old when I got it. My very first car was a beautiful white, Ford mustang. My future involved Seoul University and I went there, but a future involving cars would have amazed me. In cities, cars are definitely a necessity and ultimately, people cannot live without it because it saves up a lot of time. Cars help people with busy lives get things done.

I n America, cars are just another type of transportation. It was much busier in the streets since the time when streets had only carriages, horses, buses, and bicycles. Now there are fewer pedestrians, which is safe, but it’s very unhealthy for the drivers who never exercise. True, it saves a lot of our times, but the world has come to see a lot of disadvantages because of motor vehicles. The city faces much pollution, and smog is everywhere.

Now that I’m living by myself, I know driving is important and it’s definitely a need in my life right now. If I wanted to eat lunch or meet someone for an appointment, I’m depending on the automobile to get me there. Because I live alone I do everything by myself. Though my relatives visit, I depend on myself to survive, which means I provide my own ride, too. It’ll be hard to grocery shop and not have a car. There are different routes in an America city and the difficulty of trying to get to places is tough to imagine. Cars are also a safe transportation compared to riding bicycles when I was young.

In so many ways, cars affected my life. Sometimes it was good and other times bad, but it helped me because of its convenience. Especially now that I’m a senior and an old, weak man, cars are the best solution that I have. I won’t have to wait for the bus to come pick me up. It’s a blessing in so many ways. I always wondered what it would be like if I couldn’t afford a car. It would be very embarrassing if a whole family was waiting at the bus stop for the bus, but with cars it’s more comfortable and easier for people to sit and get to a certain destination faster for a family reunion. It definitely affected industrialized countries but not so much of third world countries. They still face poverty, but those countries keep their natural resources and have fresh, clean air.

Cars helped increase the level of advanced technology, produce more jobs and create a faster way of communication. I think just the thought about cars would have overwhelmed people living a long time ago. They would have thought cars were utter nonsense and an impossible thing to perceive. But in reality, we are not more economically advanced and the automobile industry is very developed. Many people have their own ideas about the advantages and disadvantages about cars affecting the world. To me, it’s more on the benefit side because it helped me so much.

Interviewed by Gina Song