This morning at 8am I had an appointment at the car dealership. Waiting rooms in Car dealership in Ottawa are not nice, they are provided but it is more of an inconvenience for the Car dealer and they offer the bare minimum.
So I went in thinking I would be out of there in 30 minutes, no it took 3 hours for a tune-up and frankly speaking I am not even sure what they did, I did see them cleaning the brakes but I did not see anything else.
While I waited I looked around, it's funny really the sort of people who are in the waiting room. One fellow who came in driving an old red jalopy, not the make of the dealership, wearing stretch pants with kids cartoons on them as a motif, a pair of old sandals with dirty old socks, a dirty blue tee-shirt and a baseball cap and wearing a kids mohawk haircut, this guy was in his fifties. Seeing him reminded me immediately of Marché Laflamme our old super market in Aylmer, Québec. He was the sort of denizen you would see at the marché. I always felt like I did not belong in that supermarket, first when you entered they had this huge display of beer, all the old standards, none of it fashionable, no fussy micro-brew. No it was all the old fashion brands of beer you would find in the old Taverns where you would always get a good fist fight at the bar with the bouncer to break it up and the World Federation of Wrestling on the giant TV, a nice pickled egg and the cigarette lady. They also had all those processed cakes, white powdered sugared doughnuts and sweets like the chocolate Joe Louie which are part of popular culture.
The butcher would have all the right cuts of meat for the Bar-B-Q and the cheeses for the Poutine or just for snacking, usually high on salt, but so good. The shoppers always had all kinds of nasty tattoos, none of the silly tribal ones you see today or the Chinese lettering. No it was more along the lines of things like Bleeding hearts and the word Mother with a knife and drops of blood or Virgin of Guadalupe tattoos or your girlfriends name forever. Lots of old Bikers and their old girlfriends who
were well pass 40 if not 50 shopping around. The cashiers were nice girls who chewed gum loudly, too much make-up and looked slightly vulgar but were always helpful and kind to the old lady or man who struggled with their shopping baskets. They knew the old folks, who more often than not would be family friends of their own grandparents. This Marché Laflamme remains to this day an institution in Aylmer, it has that personal touch you simply cannot find in the big modern super stores. Now the old store was completely renovated 5 years ago and does not look like the old store anymore. Nonetheless the same folks shop there, it's colourful.
I hate going to the dealership, I just don't trust them with their phony baloney friendliness when you know that they are gouging with all their gimmicks. I will have to return in November for the snow tires. Otherwise I try to avoid them if at all possible. Oh yes and they also want you to tell them that they were outstanding in their service. Give me a break!!!
So I went in thinking I would be out of there in 30 minutes, no it took 3 hours for a tune-up and frankly speaking I am not even sure what they did, I did see them cleaning the brakes but I did not see anything else.
While I waited I looked around, it's funny really the sort of people who are in the waiting room. One fellow who came in driving an old red jalopy, not the make of the dealership, wearing stretch pants with kids cartoons on them as a motif, a pair of old sandals with dirty old socks, a dirty blue tee-shirt and a baseball cap and wearing a kids mohawk haircut, this guy was in his fifties. Seeing him reminded me immediately of Marché Laflamme our old super market in Aylmer, Québec. He was the sort of denizen you would see at the marché. I always felt like I did not belong in that supermarket, first when you entered they had this huge display of beer, all the old standards, none of it fashionable, no fussy micro-brew. No it was all the old fashion brands of beer you would find in the old Taverns where you would always get a good fist fight at the bar with the bouncer to break it up and the World Federation of Wrestling on the giant TV, a nice pickled egg and the cigarette lady. They also had all those processed cakes, white powdered sugared doughnuts and sweets like the chocolate Joe Louie which are part of popular culture.
The butcher would have all the right cuts of meat for the Bar-B-Q and the cheeses for the Poutine or just for snacking, usually high on salt, but so good. The shoppers always had all kinds of nasty tattoos, none of the silly tribal ones you see today or the Chinese lettering. No it was more along the lines of things like Bleeding hearts and the word Mother with a knife and drops of blood or Virgin of Guadalupe tattoos or your girlfriends name forever. Lots of old Bikers and their old girlfriends who
were well pass 40 if not 50 shopping around. The cashiers were nice girls who chewed gum loudly, too much make-up and looked slightly vulgar but were always helpful and kind to the old lady or man who struggled with their shopping baskets. They knew the old folks, who more often than not would be family friends of their own grandparents. This Marché Laflamme remains to this day an institution in Aylmer, it has that personal touch you simply cannot find in the big modern super stores. Now the old store was completely renovated 5 years ago and does not look like the old store anymore. Nonetheless the same folks shop there, it's colourful.
I hate going to the dealership, I just don't trust them with their phony baloney friendliness when you know that they are gouging with all their gimmicks. I will have to return in November for the snow tires. Otherwise I try to avoid them if at all possible. Oh yes and they also want you to tell them that they were outstanding in their service. Give me a break!!!
Any mechanic you can trust is worth his weight in gold. They're rare. If you find one, follow him to the ends of the earth.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time imagining you in a car dealership waiting room; such a gentleman of your caliber should send the butler to do this sort of thing,
ReplyDeleteI know our chauffeur had the day off.
DeleteI am surprised. Dealerships there sound like dealerships here
ReplyDeleteI think they all go to the same school.
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