Guy standing in the service bay at the dealer is half singing, half whistling Wichita Lineman, seemingly oblivious to the 108 degree summer and me.
I clear my throat and wait for him to turn around so that I can tell him I am there for a 12 PM appointment for an oil change and to have them check the tires because the TPMS light is on.
The idea that I might have to replace another tire has the vein in my forehead bulging and my fingers twitching because this is the third tire in two weeks and the sixth this year.
Chances are good the neighbor who just put a new roof on has a role in this but I can’t prove it. There is enough doubt for me not to say anything, especially because I am not feeling particularly neighborly.
The confirmation that the tire cannot be repaired doesn’t make me happy. When I find out he has known about this for 35 minutes I make my displeasure known.
“What is the point of an appointment if you can’t get me in and out in a timely manner. Oil changes are not difficult and identifying a bad tire isn’t particularly tedious either.
The appointment just gets you me, there were cars in front of you.”
For a split second I wonder if I ought to climb on top of the desk and start shouting.
“So an appointment is worthless because getting you means I have to come looking for you to find out my car is done and that the additional work can’t be done because you are unprepared.”
Raise Your Voice
I make a point not to raise my voice though my internal thought process says it might be time to do otherwise. I don’t because I recognize it won’t change anything but I know there is a bit of a hard edge in my words.
When he tries to tell me I need to understand I cut him off because I am not interested in giving him the opportunity to make it worse.
“How soon can you get the tire? There is nothing uncommon about them. There is nothing special about this car. I am confused as to why you wouldn’t stock these for a car you routinely sell.”
He says he thinks he can have it the next day and promises he’ll get it done while I wait.
“I waited for this work and I had to find you at which point I discovered my car had been finished 35 minutes earlier. I know this because you had the good sense to tell me that. So maybe you want to consider what promises you make as I am not impressed by your lack of service.”
We agree I will not bring the car back until he calls me to confirm he has the tire in stock. I ask him if we want to ask the GM to agree to this and he says it is not necessary.
It takes quite a bit for me to want to be the guy that pulls in management and makes a big fuss. Usually not worth my time or energy, but this gentleman has helped me find both.
This time when they send the survey on service I will take the time to fill it out.
If he hadn’t told me the car had been ready for 35 minutes I would have been irked, but I wouldn’t have gotten quite so irritated.
Bad service and lack of sense.
A Vacation With The Bears
I am about due to put in for some time off and have played around with taking a vacation with the bears.
Might be kind of nice to go hang out in the Arctic with the polar bears, seals and penguins. I can set up shop on an iceberg, plant a flag and declare it Joshland.
Could build a kingdom and be lord of all I survey. Would make for some great stories and the weather would be different from what I am experiencing now.
Sometimes I play around with taking myself off of the grid and going completely silent. Some of you might miss having me around, especially if your primary source of information is through online means.
Probably won’t do it because if I do I will want to really do it and that would mean going dark for years and years.
Eventually I would come back and make the rounds on the talk show circuit or whatever replaces it as a modern day adventurer.
They’d ask me what made me disappear and why I returned after 30 years. I’d say I had a really bad craving for a good corned beef sandwich on twice baked rye or something like that.
I’d have a beard that was so long I could use it as both a hat and scarf.
Is that ridiculous?
Sure it is, but I had a ridiculous afternoon so I am blowing off steam. Though I should say the morning was pretty damn good so it wasn’t all bad.
Life is pretty absurd sometimes so you have to figure out how to laugh a bit at the stupid and the inane or so the wise men tell me.
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