SOME of you may have noticed I sound a little grumpy when I answer the phone. There are reasons aside from the fact I am generally that way. You may have caught me elbows deep in something greasy- and not just a cheeseburger. Your call may have been one in a succession of ‘idiot’ phone calls. Until recently about half of my phone calls have been from GOOGLE or people purportedly representing google- usually some cel- phone from Mumbai offering top placement on the search engine for a fee. No, thanks.
THE reason for this particular ‘rant’ was about 6 closely spaced calls that came as I was pulling a transfer case out of an Astro van. Aside from trying to answer a cel phone under a truck with greasy hands, there is the inevitable “How you doing?” Generally I answer OK just to get the conversation moving. Unless you know me, you don’t give a rat’s ass about how I feel, right? Please just say HELLO.
THE next dumb question is: “Is this_____? Usually the caller mangles the company name like: The Last Ride Auto Wreckers, or, Last Chance Auto Wreckers, or Over the Hill Auto Wreckers. I could go on, you get the idea. To be fair, I don’t greet callers with the company name, instead I just say hello? How can that go wrong? I’ll tell you why. In spite of the fact that I have 3 phone numbers, I only have one phone. At one time I used to have the ‘smart ring’ feature that allowed me to tell what line was being called. This feature is no longer available on our phone, so I just have to ‘deal with it’.
MOVING on, there is the “Do you sell parts?” Well, duh! Then again, not so much. One sign of the changing times is that ‘auto wreckers’ all sold parts off vehicles. Scrap yards bought ‘scrap metals’. Today, scrap yards masquerade as auto recyclers- but they do not sell car and truck parts. They are recyclers ONLY in the sense that an auto or truck is a rolling beer can- you squish it, melt it down, and make a new beer can out of it. Real ‘recyclers’ make it possible to re-use parts to repair your vehicle, so that resources are not wasted by over-producing new goods. It takes a lot less resources to maintain an existing vehicle than it does to produce a new, (and generally soul-less) vehicle. Think of how much money would stay in our pockets if we weren’t slaves to mindless consumerism.
THERE are those who are calling around who do not keep track of who they have called in their parts search. Many a time I have had to bite my tongue instead of tell someone ” I didn’t have it 10 minutes ago, fool!” (My best Mr.T) There are also those who over-do the details. I just want to know what you need, so we can either do business, or I can help you resume your search somewhere else, and I can get back to what I was doing. If you are lonely and looking for a friend, I am probably not the guy to call. Please get yourself a dog.
“I seen your ad on kijiji” does not entitle you to call at all hours of the night. I run an auto recycling business and a project car website- not a frigging 24 hr towing service. Considering the times, I do try to be accommodating and not turn away customers and fellow auto enthusiasts, but please, use a little common sense. If you can’t call during business hours, make it as close as you can. Thanks.
THE phone itself is a source of frustration too. It is bad enough that they have to be replaced every few years and there is an adjustment period, but then, the manufacturer has the ‘periodic’ updates. The last time I went for one of their down-loads, the phone became about 3 times more idiotic to use. Hey, Blackberry! Now I know why you are no longer in the cell-phone business. Here’s some old school wisdom: “If it ain’t broke- don’t fix it! And these idiots are providing software to make cars more self-driving. Scary.
THAT should be enough for today. Have a look around the rest of the website. If some thing grabs you, call. (If you dare.)
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