Woke Up And Drove Off
A young woman in her twenties walks in with her dad.
Customer: “Hi, I’m here to look at getting a new vehicle. I would prefer—”
Customer’s Dad: *Interrupting her.* “—and I’m her father. I’m here to make sure she gets a good deal, you catch my drift?”
Me: “Uh, of course. What did you have in mind, ma’am?”
Customer: *Glaring at her dad.* “As I was saying, I would prefer a vehicle with greener credentials; fully electric if possible.”
Her dad scoffs at this, but he’s not the customer, so I ignore him. I take them over to our electric and hybrid wing of the dealership.
Me: “So this model here is fully electric. Not only is it one of the safest cars we sell—”
Customer’s Dad: *To his daughter.* “—You’re seriously going ahead with this? I thought it was a joke.”
Customer: “I told you I wanted electric, Dad.”
Customer’s Dad: “The president’ll ban ’em next year anyway!”
Me: “Sir… with all due respect, the government’s been incentivising them, not banning them.”
Customer’s Dad: “That’s what they want you to think!” *To his daughter.* “Hun, I don’t know anything about these woke-mobiles.”
Yes, he really did call them ‘woke-mobiles.’
Customer’s Dad: “I won’t be there to help you when it breaks down.”
Me: “Actually, all our vehicles come with breakdown covera—”
Customer’s Dad: “—You need a good, old-fashioned American car. Built tough. Built to last!”
He spies one of our shiny SUVs across the showroom. One of the last real gas guzzlers we have left.
Customer’s Dad: “Now that is a real American car!”
Me: *Unable to help myself.* “That one is assembled in Mexico.”
Customer: *Trying not to laugh.* “And the electric car?”
Me: “Built in Michigan.”
Customer: *Smirking now, staring at her dad but talking to me.* “So you’re saying the ‘real American’ choice… is the electric one?”
Customer’s Dad: “Well… I… uh… still don’t trust it.”
Customer: “Don’t stress, Dad. When gas hits $8 a gallon, I’ll swing by and tow you.”
There’s a long silence. Dad shuts his mouth, I bite back a grin, and after a few more cars, the daughter makes a decision and signs the paperwork for her brand-new electric car. She chooses a model/color we have on the lot, and she is very well prepared with the paperwork/insurance information, so she can drive it home straight away!
Customer: “Relax, Dad. I’ll still let you sit in the passenger seat and complain about it all the way home.”
CORRECTION: An incorrect speaker title has been corrected.
