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Things Left on Your Car

The other day I went out to my car and noticed the birds had left a little something for me. But I think that happened when I was parked at Humphrey's for a concert.

I try to wash that off as soon as possible. I read once that it ruins your paint. Not to mention, it's just gross to look at.

But the subject of this blog isn't about those annoying birds, but those annoying people that leave flyers on your car.

Sometimes I'm not bothered by it. Other times I am.

For example, I hate when I don't see a small one. I hop onto the freeway, only to see a business card stuck in my windshield wipers. And I wonder if it's going to fly from the blade and become litter on the roads for some felons in orange to have to pick up.

Don't get me wrong, I know I won't get a ticket for that. After all, every idiot that drives a truck seems to have trash fly right out of the bed.

I think, though, that cops should give tickets to the businesses that leave those. After all, you can't tell me if you come out of Stingaree at 1 a.m. and there's a flyer for some other club on your windshield, that after a drinks you don't just throw it on the ground. And, I believe these should be scooped up, and the bill sent to the business that is paying some poor guy $50 to distribute them.

I got three things on my windshield three days in a row.

The first was at the "Cruisin' Grand" car show in Escondido. And, it blew me away that someone had the nads to put them on the classic cars in the show. I mean, there are cars with signs that say "do not touch" and you're lifting a windshield blade to put a business card about home estimates. It's not even something related to cars!

The next day I got a flyer on my car downtown. It was one of those glossy 4 x 6 cards, announcing some boxing matches at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Now, I'm a boxing fan. And I always like to know the places I can go to watch a good match-up. But come on. Place an ad in the paper. Or in the San Diego Reader ; - )

Don't leave crap on my car, for a couple of no-name local boxers, unless you want us showing up at your club and giving you a right-cross.

The third day, I got a business card on my drivers side window, in University Heights. It was for an auto body shop.

This bothered me for a few reasons.

Had he glanced at my car, he would've seen it needs no work.

How hard would it have been for this business to tell the person distributing them, to find cars with dents or dings? Especially when your phone number and fax are on there. I have to think some people will crank call or complain. And really, is this going to drum up much business? Is someone going to see this card and say "That dent my wife made when she backed up into a poll...I've always wanted to fix it. I just never knew where to go. But this is a business that does just that! I'll call them. I'll call them from the road, where I'm not even supposed to use my cell phone."

Let's hope the distraction doesn't cause him another dent.

Although, now that I think about it...my girlfriend and I were going into Ralph's one day (the store, not a guy named Ralph; on a side note: is there anyone out there named Ralph? Happy Days had a character, but what parent would do that to their child?)

Two guys pulled up in a truck, with a boatload of supplies in the back. They told me they could fix a dent I had on my old Mustang. They asked how much I would pay to fix it. I knew that a body shop would charge $600 at least. I said to them, "This car has so many miles on it, I hadn't planned on putting any more money into it."

The guy looked around the car, with one lazy eye that looked to be examining something else entirely. He said, "Well...if we could do it cheap, it's the only dent you have." His partner said "And you have a ding on your back bumper. We'll fix that, too. No extra charge."

I said, "I wouldn't pay more than $200. It's just not worth it to me."

They said they couldn't do it that cheap. I thanked them and started walking in. They followed and said they would, as they had no other business that day.

And as we did our grocery shopping, my car was getting bondo.

My girlfriend said I was crazy, and that she had seen a story about guys on the news that do this and steal the cars or rip them off somehow.

I stated thinking about it. If they were to break into my car, nobody would suspect anything, because it "looked" like they were doing work on the car.

I told my girlfriend to finish the shopping and went outside to take a look. They were working hard, and a security guard approached them. I figured that was good enough.

I went back in and finished shopping.

They told me the security guard was cool, but some mall parking lots won't let them do that.

I wanted to write the guys a check and one of them flipped out, claiming he needed the money for the weekend. I told him that I originally said I only had $38 in my wallet, and he said "We'll work something out."

They were insisting that I drive to an ATM. I refused, fearing the worst. And besides, I didn't want to make some extra trip. I was trusting them to do work, and they can trust that my check won't bounce. I even threw in an extra $50 as a tip.

The check didn't bounce.

And my stepdad, who claimed the paint they put on would probably wash off the next time it rained...well, it held up.

I assume it has, anyway. I don't have the car anymore.

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The other day I went out to my car and noticed the birds had left a little something for me. But I think that happened when I was parked at Humphrey's for a concert.

I try to wash that off as soon as possible. I read once that it ruins your paint. Not to mention, it's just gross to look at.

But the subject of this blog isn't about those annoying birds, but those annoying people that leave flyers on your car.

Sometimes I'm not bothered by it. Other times I am.

For example, I hate when I don't see a small one. I hop onto the freeway, only to see a business card stuck in my windshield wipers. And I wonder if it's going to fly from the blade and become litter on the roads for some felons in orange to have to pick up.

Don't get me wrong, I know I won't get a ticket for that. After all, every idiot that drives a truck seems to have trash fly right out of the bed.

I think, though, that cops should give tickets to the businesses that leave those. After all, you can't tell me if you come out of Stingaree at 1 a.m. and there's a flyer for some other club on your windshield, that after a drinks you don't just throw it on the ground. And, I believe these should be scooped up, and the bill sent to the business that is paying some poor guy $50 to distribute them.

I got three things on my windshield three days in a row.

The first was at the "Cruisin' Grand" car show in Escondido. And, it blew me away that someone had the nads to put them on the classic cars in the show. I mean, there are cars with signs that say "do not touch" and you're lifting a windshield blade to put a business card about home estimates. It's not even something related to cars!

The next day I got a flyer on my car downtown. It was one of those glossy 4 x 6 cards, announcing some boxing matches at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Now, I'm a boxing fan. And I always like to know the places I can go to watch a good match-up. But come on. Place an ad in the paper. Or in the San Diego Reader ; - )

Don't leave crap on my car, for a couple of no-name local boxers, unless you want us showing up at your club and giving you a right-cross.

The third day, I got a business card on my drivers side window, in University Heights. It was for an auto body shop.

This bothered me for a few reasons.

Had he glanced at my car, he would've seen it needs no work.

How hard would it have been for this business to tell the person distributing them, to find cars with dents or dings? Especially when your phone number and fax are on there. I have to think some people will crank call or complain. And really, is this going to drum up much business? Is someone going to see this card and say "That dent my wife made when she backed up into a poll...I've always wanted to fix it. I just never knew where to go. But this is a business that does just that! I'll call them. I'll call them from the road, where I'm not even supposed to use my cell phone."

Let's hope the distraction doesn't cause him another dent.

Although, now that I think about it...my girlfriend and I were going into Ralph's one day (the store, not a guy named Ralph; on a side note: is there anyone out there named Ralph? Happy Days had a character, but what parent would do that to their child?)

Two guys pulled up in a truck, with a boatload of supplies in the back. They told me they could fix a dent I had on my old Mustang. They asked how much I would pay to fix it. I knew that a body shop would charge $600 at least. I said to them, "This car has so many miles on it, I hadn't planned on putting any more money into it."

The guy looked around the car, with one lazy eye that looked to be examining something else entirely. He said, "Well...if we could do it cheap, it's the only dent you have." His partner said "And you have a ding on your back bumper. We'll fix that, too. No extra charge."

I said, "I wouldn't pay more than $200. It's just not worth it to me."

They said they couldn't do it that cheap. I thanked them and started walking in. They followed and said they would, as they had no other business that day.

And as we did our grocery shopping, my car was getting bondo.

My girlfriend said I was crazy, and that she had seen a story about guys on the news that do this and steal the cars or rip them off somehow.

I stated thinking about it. If they were to break into my car, nobody would suspect anything, because it "looked" like they were doing work on the car.

I told my girlfriend to finish the shopping and went outside to take a look. They were working hard, and a security guard approached them. I figured that was good enough.

I went back in and finished shopping.

They told me the security guard was cool, but some mall parking lots won't let them do that.

I wanted to write the guys a check and one of them flipped out, claiming he needed the money for the weekend. I told him that I originally said I only had $38 in my wallet, and he said "We'll work something out."

They were insisting that I drive to an ATM. I refused, fearing the worst. And besides, I didn't want to make some extra trip. I was trusting them to do work, and they can trust that my check won't bounce. I even threw in an extra $50 as a tip.

The check didn't bounce.

And my stepdad, who claimed the paint they put on would probably wash off the next time it rained...well, it held up.

I assume it has, anyway. I don't have the car anymore.

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