I have experienced the reality behind this comment so deeply in the past year.

I have been building a lot of stuff recently, and in 2026 alone I have made several large Home Depot lumber runs.

It's always me in my old shorts & t-shirt, loading like 2 dozen 2x4s or 4x4s or plywood into either my little mazda3 sedan or the family SUV my wife drives that has a mix of "cute" and "sassy feminist" stickers all over the back. All around me are trumpy-looking chuds in their pristine business casual work clothes carrying a single little bag or mailbox post to their also-pristine emotional support trucks.

And I'm not faulting them generally for clean clothes and nice cars. I'm a software engineer with a desk job, and I am way overdue for a fun new car that won't even fit lumber. But I am way way way over the stupid culture in this country where having a good job makes one a valid human and having a big vroom vroom truck makes one a legit rugged big strong boy.