A preface: I bought the car because I badly wanted the car.
Okay. I go searching for a nice used Nissan Quest. It will be my third. I love 'em. I find one listed at a local dealer. Go and look. Out of my price range. The salesman is just so goddamned overly friendly. I don’t have ANY use for strangers who call me " bro ". I’m not your “bro”. I’m a fucking commission with a pulse to you, asshole.
So. The car is too pricey, but on the way back to my car we walk by a Quest. Older, but primo. With plates, clearly owned by someone inside. He looks at me, asks me to wait. Turns out the current owners are inside at that very moment, trying to turn it in on trade for a new car. Bingo ! I put down a hunnerd dollars, a few days later the deal goes through.
So far, I’m “bro”. And I get clapped on the back several times, which I detest.
The day I am to go and buy the car, I get a call. Spoken in the most insultingly stereotypical Asian accent, a voice says, " Hello, this is X-Town Nissan, The car you are waiting for is ready to be picked up, along with some fried rice and pork dish. " I literally said, " Uh, hello??" It was this dick calling me, trying to be amusing. He said, " Oh just kidding around, Mad Dog. " I’ve now been promoted from Bro to Mad Dog. Am I lucky or what?
I said, " Well, my Asian daughter and I will be coming in to get this car in a few hours, okay BRO ? " Dead silence. Then he laughed and said, " Oh heh, good one. See yo soon Bro. "
I repeat this to my daughter, who is South Korean. We both pack into the wife’s car, get dropped off and walk in. The guy sees me, sees daughter, goes completely white. All of a sudden, that Teflon slick façade is shot to shit. Asshole. He comes over and says, " Hey, okay, well the car is ready and this is John, he’ll be taking all of your info okay there, Bro? " Couldn’t even LOOK at my daughter, who is 15 and eyeing him rather coolly.
I got one more Mad Dog out of him but it was a lame attempt. Seriously considered talking to his manager but what the hell- for all I know his manager is more racist than he is and what is the POINT? I am not going to change this fuckwad’s mind set if I DO complain to management.
Lesson to daughter? Rare will she meet a racist whose mind set can be altered through a confrontation. And, confront when it will be of some practical use, unless you are so outraged that you need to confront to maintain some self-respect.
I was offended for myself AND my child, but I chose not to blow it up into a big deal. Perhaps I was wrong there, but I saw no value in it.
I must say, this speck of shit singlehandedly reinforced every bad stereotype of a used car salesman that I’ve ever heard in my life.
I know that the righteous thing would have been to walk away with my money and tell him in a loud voice for all of the customers to clearly hear just what I thought of his awful racist comments.
Maybe I’m just tired of the fighting in this regard, I don’t know. I do know that anything I did would have made zero difference to this prick. -sigh-
Cartooniverse