Hammer Time: Y Tu Mama Tambien

Nothing can truly open your eyes to the futility of a declining industry than a free market. In this respect, automotive retailing is really getting what it deserves. You literally now have tens of thousands of people wasting their lives away at dealerships. The parts guys waiting for the Pavlovian phones to ring. The service folk trying to serve the dual masters of near-term revenue and immediate customer service. And of course you have sales people. From the professional and decent to the human train wrecks. These folks are there to lubricate the American economy with everything from brilliance to bullshit. Is all of this “people power” smart?Nein. Nyet. And Hell No! It’s a waste of human intellect. We are living in an era where we literally piss away millions of good minds on the parasitic and pointless. Of course, various levels of government bureaucrats and politicians serve the same exact effect on our society . . . as they do everywhere else. But the idiocy of hawking and hocking cars in the United States is truly unique.We offer guarantees to crooks that are allowed to operate for decades with absolute impunity. Really. The courts protect them. The politicians protect them. And the stupid consumers protect them. Just type in the phrases “Bill Heard” or “Title Pawn” on Google and the reptilian elements of our society will slither onward to your screen with tongues a flickin’. But then there’s the flip side.We have dealers and other stakeholders that work their vital organs off. I literally had an employee from a BMW dealership come to my home and fix a defective shift handle for nothing. Nearby me there was a Volvo dealership that was so helpful that I would almost always buy parts from them. Even if it cost less elsewhere. They both earned my business and my referrals.Finally, there was that Toyota that I had for 12 years and 235k+ miles that didn’t give me a lick of trouble . . . no thanks to the local dealership. Those dealerships are dead with the exception of the bowel-laden Toyota joint. It’s really a shame. The customers and employees deserve better. As the modern day philosopher Ron Simmons would say, “Damn!”