I drove home on Thursday night this week. Friday morning we had meetings with two different moving companies. They will put in bids on our move. Both companies seemed very good and had lots of good tips for international relocation. Friday afternoon, I had some rare time to run errands - bank transfers, cancelling the YMCA, etc. At least it's a few things crossed off the list.
On Saturday, Dennis and I went to CarMax to get his car appraised. At the same time, we figured we could take a stick shift car out for a test drive. Dennis concocted a story that we are shopping for a small, cheap car to leave at the house while we are moving to the Netherlands. The salesman was an older guy, about 55-60, and rather crusty. He seemed rather confused by our car choices as he was scrolling through the computerized list. We didn't tell him we wanted a stick shift, so our choices seemed quite random. Finally, we found one that he had available. It's amazing that there aren't very many stick shift cars at CarMax.
So the crusty sales guy walks out to the lot with us. My heart sinks as he tells us he has to ride along on the test drive. We picked a small car so he wouldn't want to go with us. But the old crusty guy wedged himself in the back seat of the itty-bitty two door car. As he climbed in, he said, "I'm really supposed to drive the car off the lot for you, but I don't drive stick shift." I was dumbstruck - what kind of old man who sells cars doesn't drive stick shift? I don't feel nearly so dumb now! OK, it's probably not fair to compare myself to a 55 year old used car salesman, but it did make me feel better.
Dennis takes the first drive and then with a perfect poker face asks me if I'm ready to trade drivers. I say, "Sure, but it's been a while since I've driven stick." I'm sure Dennis held his breath as I got the car going without obvious coaching. I only stalled the car twice! Actually, the little Toyota was very easy to drive. The sales guy even said I did good!
We'll see what I decide to buy when we get to the Netherlands.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
crusty. i'm picturing plaid jacket, comb-over, clipboard with pen attached by chain, polyester pants and shoes with two velcro straps instead of laces.
Post a Comment