We once went to a new car show room with all three kids.  Whining early
teenager, curious prepubescent insisting on participating in the
selection and negotiations, and toddler loosing his toy car somewhere
under one of them shiney new real cars.

I know we came close to buying a car, but when I called another dealer
who had come close, but no cigar, she insisted that I come and see one
last car.  It was the shiney little RED one.  Over my wife's objections
I took it home for the weekend...I fell in love with it...still have
it...teaching that toddler to drive in it now...once I can actually
hand it off to him or one of his sisters I can buy that MR-2 (Suzy
finally admits that it has been a good car and in hindsight was a good
deal...but has never let me anywhere near a female car salesperson
again...she seems to think they can read my mind better than I
can.)...but that's not this story.

So it turns out that the toy car has disappeared, but is not forgotten.
  So I called to see if they had found it in the show room, and to
notify them that I had purchased the red car and the deal for their car
was off.  They were not happy.  Wouldn't look for it.  And were most
discourteous when I came in and found it.

Several months later the Dodge Caravan bites the dust.  I don't think
we even bothered to look in that show room.  So we bought the 4-runner
from a complete stranger...most expensive car I expect to ever own.

Two lessons, I suppose.  One, having to do with underestimating
customers with kids in tow and the second , get the RED one!

-jc


On Saturday, April 26, 2003, at 07:10  AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Is it better to be loved or feared?
>                                                 A pirate friend of
> mine,
> having seen the errors of his youth  went the correct way to get dead
> beats
> to pay up.
>  small claims, court lawyer, letter trail.,phone calls,
>  $500 into the hole  he gave up and wrote it off
> He ....then went out of town on a job for some months and the dead beat
> (roofer)  had a fire in his new truck and a change of heart .He began
> paying.
> I  am not sure the parable is to this tale;
> however another tactic is the screaming woman in the office tactic a
> good
> argumentative wife with child in tow works;
>  however a substitute wife with child in tow also works (providing
> there is
> an office) Wife and child refuse to leave without compensation or
> partial
> payment if he gives you a worthless check you got him  .
> Talk to any slum landlord how they get tenants to pony up; the problem
> is you
> have to get down into the dirt with em ........best of luck and get it
> in
> writing PYRATE.
>
> --
> To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
> uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
> <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>
>