As a guy whose hobby, passion and interest revolves entirely around cars, I am hard pressed to find someone who shares my passion as intensely as I do in my everyday life. A lot of people have casual interest in cars, but no one really takes it as a hobby as much as myself and other car enthusiasts do. Cars are a niche interest; it’s not for everybody, our hobby puts a lot of people off. To some, our hobby is juvenile or threatening, even. So when we say, “We love cars,” and show our obsession with those four-wheeled machines (because once we start talking about cars, there is no stopping), we get a lot of weird looks and some stick. What kind of stick? Here are some 20 examples of things others say to people who like cars.

1. Aren’t you a little too old to like cars?

This is probably because of the popularity of Hot Wheels and other little model cars that most boys (and some girls, too) played with during their toddler years. There is a perfect quote to reply to this, though: “A man’s toys do not change; they just get a lot bigger and a lot more expensive.”

2. They’re just machines (transportation).

Why do people like skateboarding? It’s just flipping wooden boards with their feet. Why do people like video games? It’s basically fancier game of pretend. Why do people like watching football? You’re just watching bunch of burly men crash into another bunch of burly men? See, lots of hobbies are not meant to be got; we just like them because, well…we just do.

3. What’s the point of going fast?

Because it’s fun, duh. Speed is the last true thrill that you can have without the risk of injuring yourself or others unlike other habits that people have, like cocaine and such (that is if you take proper safety measure and practice common sense, like everything else). Being thrilled, as we all know, triggers secretion of adrenaline, a hormone that gives us that explosive sensation. It’s one of the most addictive bodily products we humans produced, and speed gives us plenty of that.

4. It’s dangerous.

While it is absolutely true cars can be very dangerous indeed, exercise of simple precautions and practice of common sense can (and does) prevent your drive going awry. For instance, no one in their right mind would put their pedal to the metal on a crowded street in a residential area. After all, everything that us humans do has consequences, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to enjoy the fun things in life.

5. You’re all just bunch of hoodlums!

This certainly is how society as a whole think of the car community, thanks to just a small percentage of us doing stupid sh**. To the uninitiated, we are all just bunch of hoodlums doing donuts in every parking lot, drifting through every corner and doing 130 miles per hour everywhere we go. Because of this stereotype, we are often targeted by police and earn the contempt of pretty much everyone in our community.

6. There are better hobbies.

What? Collecting stamps?

7. Why do you know so much stuff about cars?

One thing about our passion is that there are so many technicalities that we have to learn to enjoy it to the full, demanding much investment of time. To make matters worse, these technicalities are often fascinating to us, making us look like tremendous geeks. I probably can’t tell you how to solve a Calculus-level derivative problem, but I can explain to you the difference between a 90-degree V10 and a 72-degree V10 in less than a minute.

8. It’s a waste of time.

So is spending 17 hours playing Overwatch, my friend.

9. It’s a waste of money.

So is spending $60 on video games (each), my friend.

10. No one else likes cars.

People usually think that there are only about 15 guys who are “car enthusiasts”, the sort of guys who waste their life dribbling at pieces of metal, rubber and glass. But, there are literally millions of car enthusiasts just in United States alone, and a quick search on any major social media platform will reveal that no matter what kind of preference you have on cars, there is a community for it somewhere.

11. There are so many better things to do.

Whereas a car enthusiast’s idea of an idea weekend is literally spending hours in their garages fixing and modifying their rides or looking at a computer screen searching for their next car, the average Joe’s idea of an ideal weekend is out at a club, getting drunk and waking up next to a dumpster the next morning wearing somebody else’s dress wondering what the hell had happened the night before. Yeah…I’ll stick with my garage, thanks.

12. Tell me what car I should buy next?

Those who know a car guy/girl know we can recite the mechanical specifications of a 2002 Honda Civic hatch on top our head as if we were reading it on paper. So naturally, when they are out to shop for a car, they turn to us for help. Although most of us are happy to provide service to friends and family who need advice, it gets a bit annoying when it’s seven different people at the same…every day.

13. What is the best car in your opinion?

Which one of your limbs is the best one?