----- Original Message -----
From: "jerome shaw" <fiveton_@excite.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 8:08 AM
Subject: Re: [MV] Warning Signs
> The majority of the time it's not that they think your vehicle belongs to
> the national guard or reserves.
> They have brought their kid's up with no respect for others property they
> figure they paid $3.00 to get in it's part of the deal like Disney
Well, one of the reasons I let the little brats crawl all over my vehicles
when I have them attending MVPA and local events is that I remember, not so
very long ago, being exactly the same sort of little brat who achieved the
briefest moment in heaven sitting in an army truck and smiling at my parents
through the spokes of the steering-wheel. I won't do anything whatsoever to
discourage the little rats, even if it means I have to hang about all day or
ensure someone else does. I can't picture myself in the mold of those
imperious, officious types who believe they're saving the world by stopping
some kid from 'touching' something which fifty billion soldiers before him
couldn't break.
Now, that said, I'll admit that I'd likely have a different attitude had my
vehicle been a concourse quality affair that had countless hours upon hours
poured into it ensuring that each bolt bore the correct "F" upon its head
and so forth, but I specifically *don't* do vehicles like that because I've
seen far, far too many people in our club that create such critters, only to
have them languish in garages, unseen by the public who would jump at the
chance to adore them along with their owners, simply because they're scared
of a thousand little problems of their own invention. I might yet get to be
like that, but I think it would require abstinence from alcoholic beverages
and some sort of radical surgery. Neither is likely.
I've a few horror stories, though. I used to operate my M37 as a daily
driver back when the government didn't feel it necessary to tax gasoline
eighty percent, and on one occasion I took it to our version of the U.S.
DRMO, to wit, the Cash-and-Carry Sale at the local CADC. Now, these were
popular affairs, and as all the items in the warehouse were pre-priced and
awaiting the stamped of several hundred eager bargain-hunters, you had to
secure your place in line during the wee hours of the morning before a
thousand others arrived before you and scooped whatever it was you were
after. The result was more often than not a lineup which went clear around
the building and out into the street, and this time, coincidentally, right
alongside where I'd parked my M37 the previous night.
So, it's pouring rain, as usual for any sort of outdoor event at 6am, and I
suddenly realize from my position very near the front of the line with two
minutes left until opening time, that I've left my wallet in the 37's
glove-box. So, I run all the way back alongside the building to where I
left the truck, open the door, and am face-to-face with a very large,
elderly East Indian female staring back at me from the passenger seat. I
can remember being a bit out-of-sorts, so the only thing I could think of
saying was the politest "excuse me" possible as I reached past her ample
knees to retrieve _my_ wallet from _my_ glovebox in _my_ truck!
I don't honestly know to this day whether her transgression was due to the
fact she thought it was a government vehicle, or the combination of an open
door and a rainstorm proved too tantalizing to pass up - or whether it was
more of a cultural thing. <shrug> Go figure.
Andy Hill
Vancouver, B.C.
MVPA 9211
(Maybe they serve as taxis in India like the CMP's?)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 05 2001 - 07:58:29 PST