We are on day 23. The questions keep reminding me of way back when. Do you remember when you were a young teenager? Come on and share it with us. We would love to have you join. It is not too late to get in on the rest of the month.
Today’s question is:
How old were you when you bought your first car? What kind of car did you get? Do you still have it?
There is a very interesting story here. I had saved enough money through working, walking
Then, came the bicycle.
I was working on assembling bikes at the store one day. It was getting close to Christmas and it was my job to put all the bicycles together. I could assemble them really fast because I had done so many of them. It was cheaper for me to do it than for my parents to hire extra help.
Anyway, I was in the back room. I rolled a bike out and there were customers everywhere and no employee on the sales floor. My father had gone outside to take care of something and got tied up. I turned to put the bike back in the back room, but could not go that way because customers had come in the back door.
I decided that since I could not go forward and since I could not go backwards, I would put the bike in the back office and clear the floor.
I waited on all the customers and cleared the rush. Then, my mother and an employee came in. I went back to the back room to get started on putting together more bikes. I had forgotten the one in the office.
My father came in and had to go to the office. He saw the bike in the office and called me on to the sales floor. He yelled and cussed and called me all manner of names like stupid and lazy. I just got the bike, tagged it, and went back to the back.
Then, the fun started. My mother and the employee tag teamed my father. They told him that he should have asked WHY I put the bike there. When they got done with him, he felt really bad.
He called me back out on to the sales floor and asked me why. I told him that I could not go forward and I could not go back; the office was the only quick choice.
Then, that Saturday, my father sent me to town. He said, "Take the back way. If you go by Rutabaga’s (a made up name) Used Cars, you might see one you like. He has a nice red one there." Well, Rutabaga was a known crook. My father once told him that anyone who bought from him should take a birth control pill first because they were going to need it.
Well, I stopped by Rutabaga’s Used Cars and saw the car my father had suggested. I was told the price was $1,100, but he would sell it to me for only $1,000. I told him, "I will keep looking”. He asked me was I going straight back to the store and I told him I was going to town.
When I got back to the store, low and behold, that car was on the lot. I went inside and my father told me he had bought the car. He said he was going to kick in the $500 he had said and I could pay him out of my paycheck each week.
I told my father that I had told Rutabaga that I was going to keep looking. My father was disappointed. He was even more disappointed when he told me that he had talked Rutabaga down to only $1,200. I told him I had him down to $1,000 without having to negotiate at all.
My father said he would pay for all of it and that I could take it to the local guy who did pin striping. I was now the owner of a 1972 Plymouth Duster.
The first car we actually bought was a 1988 Ford Festiva. It was red, too. There are no pictures of either car that I know of.
What about you? What was your first car?
Rutabaga or whatever his real name was sounds like a typical used car salesman.
ReplyDeleteRutabaga was a real crook, alright. I did not use his real name because his family may find this blog and want to sue for definition of character.
DeleteAny photos we may have had of the Festivas are long gone now, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteSorry that Rutabaga crooked Papa. If he hadn't, though, you wouldn't have had this story to tell. You should send him a thank you note. :)
I am sure we lost it about 3 or so moves ago. Papa should have known better than to deal with Rutabaga. But, like you said, it makes a great story.
Delete