Another casualty of weaponized hypochondria will be – already is – the new car test drive. Which you can’t do anymore at most new car dealerships unless you are willing to do your part to lend legitimacy to the assertion that sickness is everywhere and you might be carrying it and that wearing an old rag will prevent transmitting what you haven’t got.
For the remaining sane among us, this is a bridge too far – or rather, not too far from being expected to attest you believe in a religion that you find loathsome and thereby make a mockery of your principles for the sake of some momentary convenience.
When the moment passes, you feel loathing for yourself.
But if you refuse to play your part, there’s no way to determine whether that new car you might be interested in is a car you’d like to buy – without just buying it and hoping the seats aren’t back-killers and that you won’t want want to trade it in the week after you bought it . . . which you may not be able to do, either, as many dealers won’t deal with you at all if you refuse to play your part.
Most won’t let you through the door if you don’t – and forget getting behind the wheel, you suppurating inconsiderate purveyor of sickness, you.
Maybe the time has come to stop buying new cars – in order to treat the sickness afflicting new car dealers. If enough people refuse to play their part as a condition of being allowed to spend tens of thousands of dollars, then perhaps something approximating the customer is always right may return to car stores.
Remember the customer is always right?
It was once the byword of American business, which sought the customer’s business by accommodating the customer’s preferences. Somehow, the roles have been reversed and it is now the obligation of the person spending his money to please the business accepting it. (Which, when you think about it, is of a piece with having to subordinate objective reality to the feelings of people unhinged from it.)
How this change happened is an interesting topic for discussion – but it doesn’t reverse the currently unnatural dynamic that makes the pleasing of the business the obligation of the customer.
The situation can however be addressed – by saying no to new car buying under these conditions.
Explicitly. Tell the dealership that you’d like to do business with them – but on your terms. That you aren’t willing to perform strange religious rituals for them as the condition of being allowed to hand over tens of thousands of dollars of your money.
That if they want your money, they will have to please you.
This might actually get their attention – more so than the same thing applied to a grocery store, say. Which can easily afford to lose your business. What is one cart of groceries not purchased vs. hundreds purchased by those willing to play their part?
But a car store needs every sale since each sale represents a lot of money both in individual terms and proportionately. Many car stores only make a dozen sales a month. Each one counts – and each one lost hurts.
It is expensive to keep cars in stock; each month that goes by means more interest on the loan – dealers get their inventory this way – and each month that goes by also means one month closer to the new model year and also the new calendar year, which once reached means a plummeting in the value of “last year’s” inventory.
Give them an incentive to make the customer happy – as opposed to playing kabuki.
The same goes for service, another big-ticket item for car stores. Refuse to hand over your keys unless they refrain from demanding you not show your face. Do not allow yourself to be treated like a “colored” and made to sit outside in the cold and rain rather in inside the warm and dry waiting room. Do not permit them to make you feel like a leper – or play the part of one.
Be specific. Be bold. Tell them how you expect to be treated – and what sort of treatment you will not abide.
This just might cure them, if enough of us customers apply the necessary poultice.
And if not, there is an alternative:
Buy a not-new car
By dealing with individuals rather than dealers – who are beholden to corporations – you will find people who are interested in your business and willing to do what is necessary to get it. Not many will walk away from thousands of your dollars because you refuse to hide your face.
Also: Many people are as sick of sickness kabuki as you are – and some of these are selling cars. You will know right away, probably, if you see their face when you show up to have a look at the car they’re selling. And if they’re playing their part, it’s still ok – provided they don’t insist you play yours.
Those who insist on your playing your part can be dismissed summarily – and that may cure them of their affliction, too.
. . . .
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To hell with your stupid 100 day mask mandate, ya dumbass. Fercrissakes, how dumb does anybody look?
Biden is actually dumber than he looks, Alfred E. Newman is a genius next to Bidet. What? Me worry? lol
First days of fear and loathing during a winter of darkness brought to you Biden the Black Doom Emperor of Death and Destruction.
It’ll be worse than the Plague.
The idiots are actually compiling lists and libertarians are on them. The lunatics are in charge of the asylum.
When you have people in power who want to actually purge fascists, bigots, Trump supporters, little old ladies, the mentally deficient, you name it, apparently, it is power hungry human haters doing everything they can to make you a target, all you have to do is disagree with the dogma, the doctrinaire, you don’t have a chance.
You are probably going to be re-educated whether you like it or not. You dissidents need to be taught a lesson the hard way.
Um, how ’bouts no? Take a hike, you bigoted fascist gov shithead. Antifa good, Trump supporter bad. Crime think right there, get a life somewhere.
You’re a heretic to be an apostate, double whammy.
You’re the hated new Native American, the savage who must be eliminated, there is only one solution, annihilation.
What’s the use in having a completely corrupt insane government whose plans are to make your life miserable no matter what, no matter what stripe you are?
Who wants that?
Julian Assange tells it like it is.
Yes, well, I for one am looking forward to watching them run around attempting to identify the “leader” of some sort of individualist “movement” that, for all I can tell, holds its annual convention inside a telephone booth.
The laughter will keep me warm in the gulag.
“Salute the Marines.”
Biden makes “W” look like a Mensa member.
He was always a moron, and now he’s senile.
Hi Myles,
Yes, but he is the president now. It’s a tough one to choke done for me, too. But whether it was due to fraud or the incompetence of the Orange Man to deal with said fraud, the end result is the senile old hack is now the front man of the federal apparat.
I really hoped that Orange man would cause the Congress and states to take back the powers they gave away to the Executive branch. Universally hated, it seemed like it might happen. But enough Republicans thought he was the second coming and got behind him. Only to turn Judas when the cock crowed.
It was a little bit interesting to see the state governors’ reaction to Wuhan Flu though. Not the perfect Jefferson ideal of 50 different experiments but at least there was a bit of variety in how the states handled things. Maybe now that they have a taste of the power they won’t give it back, but I’m not holding my breath.
Ive bought 2 cars from an owner and 2 cars from the dealer. Never going to the dealer again. Im gonna try carvana next. No sales people. Full price listed. Financing available. Delivers the car to you. 7 days and 400 miles for a return.
When I bought my new/used truck (no nanny features in it) 3 months ago we walked got a handshake from the salesman, looked at the truck, went for the test drive (salesman as well), came back finished the deal, and all with no mask on anyone (I’m also fortunate to live in a place with no “mandates” moved from a worse place).
what state? I’d like to move there…no mask is a paradise at this point
South Dakota (used to live in Colorado) so much better here
My local foreign dealership(no name to protect the innocent)has never attempted to force me to wear a diaper…A mix of employees are former military and their conservative politics is a big help. It is also a plus that I have a long term relationship with this particular store and everyone from F and I to lot crew knows my name. I do stay out of the waiting area though to avoid conflict with other customers and forcing a confrontation.
I’ll go with the alternative. New cars come equipped with a bunch of millennial shit that 1) inflates the price and 2) shouldn’t be in a machine that requires focus to use without killing everyone on the street.
Here, you can test drive used cars but the salesman won’t go with you. Not sure about new ones but I think it’s the same. While shopping for used cars a couple of months ago, one dealership had stickers on the used cars bragging about how every vehicle had been “Sterilized with Clorox.” lol I was so impressed by that (not at all) that both my son and I bought a car from there while sitting UNMASKED through the entire purchasing process! lol Nobody said a word and at the end of the process we even got the salesman to unmask and chat with us as well as agreeing to shake hands at the end. (Same post as in Diaper Report.)
In my experience, car dealers are not especially notorious for accommodating customer desires. Back in 2006 I went to a local dealership, with interest in test driving a particular model to determine if I was interested in buying one. The salesman who approached my asked if I was buying a car today, which I answered “depends on whether I like driving the car or not”. At which time he promptly turned around and went back inside. So, I went to a dealership about 120 miles away, after calling to see if they had any such attitude, and ended up buying the car from them. Of course I did drive my new car back to the local dealer, found that same salesman and told him “you should have let me drive the car.” I know, this is an anecdotal incident.
Had to take the work truck to the Ford dealer last week. Since I was on the clock I had to wear the “PPE” in public (never know when there might be a supervisor or snitch lurking about). I walk in, no one in the showroom is in a mask. The service guys all had masks pulled down on their chins or bandanas. They see me walk in and immediately get “in character.” I laugh and pull mine off saying sarcastically “I want to speak to your manager,” knowing full well that the manager was in the room when I walked in.
Went over to the waiting room. Two other customers waiting, one old timer and a younger kid. The kid was in a mask the old guy not. DK if the kid was there on work, but he wasn’t in any sort of uniform so I imagine he wasn’t. I sat down, removed my mask and proceeded to do paperwork. No one said a word to anyone about any mask policy, but of course there were (state required) signs everywhere.
Meanwhile the CDC issued a revised recommendation for PCR testing cycles just after O’biden took the oath. Pretty sure there’s no deep state conspiracy at work here, just synchronicity, right?
Last May, our family was in the market for a new (used) vehicle. The Face Diaper mandate was already in effect. I had resolved from Day One of this situation not to comply with “lockdown” or any other ridiculous diktats, as, like many of you, I smelled a rat immediately.
We went to one of the big box used car retailers, four of us (two kids). As is my practice, I had called in advance to inquire about their mask policy and make our family’s preference to be uncovered known. When we arrived, we called and the sales person met us outside. She then asked if we would come inside (“how many masks do you need?” “NONE”)…used every excuse she could to get us to come in and of course, wear the diaper. No go. There was no need for us to go inside. The weather was nice, we test drove, and she brought the papers out to us to sign and we were on our way – no diapers necessary!
Within a few days, we noticed problems with the vehicle and had to return it. We were then advised that we “must” come inside to sign papers to get our money back. I again insisted that we could sign outside. They (surprisingly?) accommodated us.
Next place was a privately owned used car dealer. Same thing. We did everything outside.
Bought TWO used vehicles, returned one, and NO DIAPERS!
‘Most won’t let you through the door …’ — EP
Real estate sales are affected too, though sometimes in positive ways. A couple of weeks ago, we were driving through a large new mobile home development, just out of curiosity. The manager spotted us, opened his car window to answer a few questions, then invited us to check out a model home — unaccompanied.
The modern double-wides — all with drywalled interiors, millwork and some with cathedral ceilings — were priced at around $140K. Before installation, the developer excavates a two-foot deep crawl space, where the wheels used for transport are replaced with permanent stands. This eliminates skirts and allows the trailer to sit flush to grade like a stick-built home.
But the ground rent — which will only go up — is a stiff $495/month. That’s MUCH higher than property taxes on a similar-sized stick-built home, which would be about $100/month.
Around here, trailer parks are getting snapped up for eye-popping prices by investors who view them as inflation hedges. Tenants with pre-1976 non-HUD trailers promptly get booted. Luxury amenities such as a club house with pool and tennis courts are installed. Ground rents get hiked accordingly.
When the newly-extended eviction moratorium expires March 31, many will find that the safety valve of living in a low-cost mobile home or RV park doesn’t exist anymore. But Big Gov is here to ‘help’ — Biden’s American Rescue Plan proposes $25 billion in rental and utility assistance.
That should work out about as well as the notorious FEMA trailers did after Katrina walloped Nola. 🙁
Hi Jim,
One of the few upsides to the appointment of the Orange Ape’s replacement is that we’ll likely get the $1,400 check Orange Ape refused to cut. This will at least pay most of this year’s property tax for me. Which is fun, in that it is government paying government for a change!
That wouldn’t even cover 1/4 of the property taxes in my very modest cape in the communist republic of new jersistan…. And i have it better than most because my town has “low” property taxes compared to the rest of the state. I would have left here years ago but the wife refuses to leave.
Leave the wife…
I might consider it but i could never leave my boys.
Hear hear. Living in American Siberia is waxing tedious- the wife is from here and perfectly OK with it. She’s also OK with wearing the muzzle, even when I’m beside her showing the faith and courage to defy the edict which she fully knows is bullsh*t. Taxes are relatively low and I own half the town, but with 6 months out of the year cold and likely to get worse as the climate cools, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately…