Life doesn't suck (AKA 5%)

[m j b]

Most of us here are blessed, privileged, take your pick of what word pleases you the most. Many of us got to where we are from hard work, solid financial smarts and good looks. And yes, Chewy, we still have to deal with the great unwashed.

So, today I sold my spare car to Carvana because it's a hassle selling cars to regular people, and Carvana offered me the most (compared to local franchise dealer and Carmax). I could have paid them $75 to come and get the car, but it's not far from work so I figured I would just bring it in.

So I made an appointment.

As is my way, I was early. No one was there. Several people were also waiting, and by the time someone came out to see me, it was past appointment time. I told them I had an appointment, and she said "he's with his 11:30 which is running late, so he'll be with you soon." I had to wait another 15 minutes.

Once he arrived, it only took a few minutes, but OMG did he have some bad B.O.!!!! Then he went to get my check. As I waited for that, someone else came out and asked the young girl and her mom if they had an appointment... by this time it's about 12:10 and she answered, "yes, but it was at 11:30".

Guy comes back with check, and I asked if he was going to get me an Uber (that's part of their deal). He says, "I gotta find the dude who does that," and went in the back. I waited another 5 minutes and just ordered the Uber myself. He shows up 10 minutes later, and the Carvana guy still hasn't come back out. I just paid for it myself.

My time is valuable to me. Not to them, obviously.

UberDude won't let me sit up front. He's kind of rude about it. The car was clean but had some bad tires or bearings and made a horrible noise, not horrible enough to drown out the gawdawful technocrap music he has on the radio.

But he didn't kill me on the way home, so I gave him a tip anyway.

And so now I'm home, working from home as I am occasionally permitted to do so, sitting on the back porch with my laptop, enjoying the gorgeous mid-70s weather that we are experiencing now in NC, and thinking to myself that no, I'm not in the 1% but I'm probably in the upper 5% of Americans, and really, this doesn't suck.

And I'll probably sit out here the rest of the afternoon. We're getting ready for a huge project at work, so as I wait for that to get cranked-up, I'm not terribly busy so I have time to post here on this esteemed forum and shop for another spare car.

I suspect that you too have free time (you're reading this, aren't you?) and probably in the top 5% or so, so chime in, share with us how you are enjoying your preferred status.

And yes, next time, I'm paying the $75 and let them pick up the car.

BTW, this is the second car I've sold to Carvana. I won't buy a car from them, but for selling, it's a nice business model.