REAL VIPs CAN BE FOUND ALMOST ANYWHERE

I Found Wisdom at the Bus Stop

Why didn’t I think of that?

So, I’m out placing yard signs about voting for two propositions in the upcoming election. The minority community I’m working with needs two new state-of-the-art elementary schools. The schools in this community just can’t be patched any longer. One was built in the horse and buggy days and the other before the Korean War. More on these schools at a later time.

I suddenly hear this male voice say I wouldn’t have bought that car. Another male voice asks is that your car? I do a one-eighty-degree turn and see two guys sitting on a bench under a tree at a bus stop. What car I ask? One of the guys points to the parking lot of this air-conditioned self-storage place. I don’t know about your community but these self-storage places have sprung up all over my community like weeds on the side of the interstate. One of the guys points at a Tesla EV vehicle.

I politely say no it is not mine gentleman because this vehicle is totally out of my price range. Depending on what model of Tesla you purchase they start around $47,000 and can go as high as $160,000.

The few lifelong friends that know me intimately know that I love conversing with the VIPs of this world. When I was a corporate executive my administrative assistant was the only person that could find me in a corporate headquarter building, in downtown Chicago, a forty-four-floor, 6 elevator place. She would track me down in the mailroom, the custodian hangout, or the security guard hideout. These persons were invisible to most people but not to me. They knew everything of importance before it occurred or while it was occurring in real-time. When I travel internationally or nationally the Uber driver, parking valet, doorman, housekeeper, restaurant server, and concierge become my VIPs.

These two guys are instant VIPs to me. I place the sign firmly curbside and then asked the two men if I could sit with them for a short breather. They both nodded and pointed to the end of the bench. I then asked them why they wouldn’t buy a Tesla.

The spokesman for the two men said that he could not understand something. What was that I asked. He said how could Elon Musk build a spaceship and transport people safely into space but he could not build a car that wasn’t recalled every thirty days. The other guy nodded in the affirmative. I say you make a good point. The spokesman asks isn’t Musk trying to build a self-driving car? Yes, I believe so I respond.

And here is the quintessential wisdom in the entire conversation between me and these two guys. The spokesman calmly says Musk's self-driving car should just drive itself to the repair shop when it needs maintenance. That includes tune-ups too. He said for the cost all Teslas should have this feature.

The silent partner of the spokesman points down the street and I see that their bus is on its way. I bid them farewell and remind them to vote. I give the silent partner a push card with a number to call if they need a ride to the polls or have any problems casting their ballots.

If you pay attention you can find wisdom in the most unlikely places. I always do.

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