Looking Poor?

[amorphous_constellation]

As with any good story, its the characters involved...

My van is dead. We're on the side of an interstate. Its in the middle of a snowstorm. I do have a coat, but I'm wearing something that looks similar to this:
View attachment 54163and thisView attachment 54164

I do have a coat, but its windy and yucky. Not anything you want to be stranded in. Home is about 2 hours away. We called for a tow, and everything is backed up. We're told it'll be hours. The van won't start at all, so no heat. We finally found someone who said they'd do it in half an hour. We wait and wait... eventually a truck with Sanford's Towing pulls up. The only reason the name is important here is as we see the rusty truck approaching, this theme song is playing in my head:

Its about the caliber of equipment they're using. I half expect Sanford himself to step out, and when someone does step out, I find myself wishing for Sanford and his son instead.
A very broken and rough looking old man steps out. Quotes us over $100 to tow the van to the nearest city, which is about 5 miles away. We have no choice, really, but to go with it. We agree, and he walks back to his truck. We wait in the van for instructions. He slaps some chains on. And all the sudden we're diagonal, and then we're up.... and then he's going down the highway with us on the back of the truck, still in our vehicle(which I learned is illegal). I'm afraid to fart, for fear that any more wind will knock our van off of this half set up mess we're on... but we make it. Alive. To the middle of a McDonald's parking lot. "I'll send one of my boys over to look at the issue! See ya!" he says. So then we're stuck, very very dressed up, in a parking lot.

We walked over to a Dollar General. Bought a pair of shoes and a bag of socks. We're unsure where to go next. We just wander the outskirts of this rural Iowan town, unsure what to do. Sanford does send his 'boys'(who collectively have perhaps 27 teeth), who say "we're not sure, but it could be this, this, and this, and we'll fix all of this(for a hefty price)". We turn them down. Now what?

My husband starts looking for someone to haul the van to a reliable mechanic(which is what we'd hoped for in the first place). We find a guy in a town about 7 miles south of where we are, in a decent sized city. He was real sympathetic to our plight. Scheduled us right in for another tow. Towed us to his garage. Talked fondly of his customers(whom he knew by name, and a good bit about their personal lives). Offered to drop us off places(malls, restaurants), but we just were cold and wanted to sit somewhere. He let us sit in his office while he finished some of his other jobs. It was a typical garage office, wet, but it had a space heater. He had a leak; we emptied his bucket while he was away. My husband mopped his floor for him. Fox News blared in the background, but we were just thankful for the hospitality.

After a couple hours, he was able to get to our van. He tried various things. Hooked it up to various machines. Could'nt figure out what the problem was. "Well, hell, lets see if this helps." He emptied the bottom of a large gas can into the van. Cranked the keys. It started. Shut off again. "I'm going to get more gas!" He calls. He returns with a full can this time, and loads it in. This time, the van starts, and stays started. "It was out of gas!" he tells us.

The man we bought the van from failed to mention the gas gauge was broken. Hours being towed to and fro, sitting around in strange places(in unsuitable clothing), and it was something as miniscule as that.

I often mention to my husband that I feel my life is a practical joke, and Krishna is laughing at me(in a good natured sort of way). "Do you hear him laughing?" I ask him. "Yeah, I hear him."

It was good to see it wasn't anything more serious, good story, I guess

 

[JustGeorge]

It was good to see it wasn't anything more serious, good story, I guess

As longs as its not the transmission, everything's good.

Or the timing chain(belt?). I don't even know what that is, but I know when that breaks its time for the junkyard.

 

[RestlessSoul]

I always look poor. But your experience is kind of strange. Guy should know better.

Buying a car was odd for us at first, as we didn't finance, but paid cash. The sales guys are often taken aback because of it. There are a lot of assumptions going on about wealth. A guy can be stone cold broke and look well off as well.

With houses, it goes both ways. Many folks live in a smaller house just so they have extra money for travel etc. At the opposite are folks who buy way beyond their means, and have no cash flow. So although the house looks expensive, they can't afford a new fridge when the old one goes boom.

That car salesman must have loved you. They often make more money selling the finance, than they do from the car.

 

[Vinayaka]

That car salesman must have loved you. They often make more money selling the finance, than they do from the car.

Indeed, that's true, sadly. It's profiting from another's lack of will. Far better to go get a personal bank loan, and pay cash, that to go through dealerships.

 

[SalixIncendium]

We had a contractor in yesterday to look at replacing some windows. Much to our surprise, he spent most of the time here discouraging us from fixing this or that, telling us "you can't afford that". This isn't a person we know; we just met. He has no idea what our financial situation is.

Regardless of whether we can or can't afford something, what makes a person feel another person is a 'has not'? What makes a person assume another is well off?

Personally, I don't make assumptions regarding such. (There's plenty of other more fun to make assumptions about.)

This kinda reminded me of this scene from "Pretty Woman."

Most people will judge based on assumptions resulting from the limited information provided to them by their sense-organs, usually by what they see.

I remember seeing a panhandler in Chicago up street from where I was working. I saw people giving him money all day long, and later in the afternoon, he went around the corner, got into his late-model Cadillac, and drove away.

 

[Secret Chief]

We had a contractor in yesterday to look at replacing some windows. Much to our surprise, he spent most of the time here discouraging us from fixing this or that, telling us "you can't afford that". This isn't a person we know; we just met. He has no idea what our financial situation is.

Regardless of whether we can or can't afford something, what makes a person feel another person is a 'has not'? What makes a person assume another is well off?

Personally, I don't make assumptions regarding such. (There's plenty of other more fun to make assumptions about.)

How odd. Reminds me of:
My partner and her ex went to a car showroom to buy a car but the sales man talked to them dismissively, clearly based on the dishevelled appearance of would-be purchaser. They left the premises, having bought nothing.
He called back in the next day, still looking the same but brandishing enough cash to buy half the showroom. The ex said to the sales man "You could have had some of this if you'd talked to me decently."