I can't believe how fast my life is going bye. In another week I'll be selling cars at Superior Toyota for eight months. It seems like yesterday that I answered an ad in Career Builder. I had applied at just about every dealership, auto parts store or photo lab in the greater Kansas City area to no avail. I had great interviews and an impressive resume showing everything I had done since my discharge from the Army in 1956.
Big mistake, even though age is not supposed to be a deciding factor, once they realize how old you actually are they just don't call you back. My daughters were looking at my resume and told me that I could say that I was a veteran but not to mention the year I was discharged. So, I made a slight change eliminating about ten years from my early experiences.
After e-mailing my resume to Mr. Ed Harris, the used car sales manager at Superior, I was called the next day to come in for an interview. During our conversation I decided that I wanted to work for this man. He looked me right in the eye, gave me the good and the bad about selling cars and said he would call me back, which he did the next day and asked me to come in for another interview with the New Car manager.
He too was upfront and very impressive. I had told Mr. Harris my actual age so we would start out on the right foot. I should have chosen the left because I developed Plantar Fasciitis in that foot. Anyway, I started soon after and from day one I was in my niche.
They started by sending me to training by Rip Walker, A Hendrick Auto training specialist on the companies way of selling and ethics. The training they provide is excellent. It took me awhile to soak it all up and I'm still learning something new everyday. My immediate managers Ryan and Jeremy have continually tried to help me become the salesperson I know I'm capable of being.
Ed Harris my mentor, just makes it a great place to work. All of the sales people get along great and put up with this old man, me, not Ed. I believe I'm the oldest employee in the whole store but until recently, few people knew my age. I try to hold up my portion of the daily work load and not let my age dictate my performance.
Because of age and or experiences, I'm constantly telling stories. It's gotten to the point that they ask me for a story almost daily. I try to relate memories out of my memoir "MAKING HAPPY" and they seem to enjoy those the most.
I'm in Florida again this year staying with our good friend Irene (the ex Mrs. Cruel) who shares her beautiful condo with us. I hesitate sending photos from here (but I'm sure I will) so my friends at Superior won't feel bad working in the cold while I enjoy the sun and fun, however I hear the weather this week is pretty good.
I'm at the point in my auto sales that give me the confidence to sell more that I've sold the previous month and to increase that number from here on. Am I having fun, I believe I am. Other than the agony of da feet, I'm enjoying going to work every day and plan on selling at least a car a day. I'm fullfilling a need and to watch the people drive away in their new car with a smile on their faces helps me keep the promise I made in the Smoky Mountains to make people smile everyday and yes, I'm still a 44 short.
I'll leave you with this, I'll try to keep my blogs coming more often if you send someone in to buy a car. I promise that they will enjoy the experience.
RONNIEISMS FAMILY LINKS
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, July 31, 2011
A SLIGHT EXAGERATION
When I started doing blogs about three years ago they contained bits of family stuff that I thought might be entertaining or bring a smile to one's day, and they did, or at least, that's what I was told.
Actually the first blog was in 2007 and has continued sporatically over the years. Some of my (fans) readers have told me that the blogs are not funny anymore, they're lacking the original RONNIEISMS intent.
They said that the commercialism of the last few blogs has turned them off. I apologize for creating those reactions but there aren't many funny things that go on at an auto dealership, however, yesterday was a special day.
One of our clients buying a vehicle was attempting to get as much for his trade that he could, pretty normal, OK? He didn't have the car with him but he left to go get it and drop it off. The deal was made sight unseen after the client described his older vehicle as a car that had a rebuilt engine in it that made it run like new and had recently had a new paint job. It was a manual transmission but there was no trouble shifting.
The client returns in his vehicle putt putting into the lot. You could hear the grinding as the gears were having a slight problem going into the next speed. But the best was the new paint job, a nice bright red applied with a 6"paint brush, yes you're reading this correctly, painted with a brush. One of his front fenders had been pounded by a ball peen hammer in an attempt to correct a minor accident. None of these incidents came up on the Carfax when we checked. His air conditioning consisted of having the windows open since one of the handles was inoperable.
We went back to the client and told him the car was not exactly what he had described and made a different offer knowing all too well that he would cancel the deal. But, he quickly accepted with an "I'll take it" knowing full well that he was still getting more than his scrap heap was worth. I hope the junk yard doesn't damage this classic too much more.
I guess beauty is really in the eyes of the beholder.
In my attempts to recognize accents and respond with a "hello or good morning" in their original language I usually do pretty well. Since my 5 year stint in Hawaii I can recognize and respond in about 15 languages. My limited ability does not go beyond the familiarities such as hello, good morning, goodbye and thank you.
The other day I approached a couple in the lot that looked to be hispanic (not to be racial profiling) and said "ola, buenas dias. hello, good day. They looked back at me with quizzed looks and answered in broken English, "we're not Mexicans". Naturally, I apologized for my error and carried on speaking very slowly. They were from Nepal and fortunate for them I only knew a few words in Mandarin, that I didn't try.
Many of our clients are immigrants attending the surrounding universities, mostly on scholarships. They come from Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Mexico and the majority from India and Pakistan. I'm giving up on learning the new languages because my internal RAM is full and floppy discs are long gone. Maybe I can stick a thumbdrive in one of my ears or, never mind, bad idea.
I will stick to my script and say "Welcome to Superior Toyota" and go from there.
During the last 3 or so weeks I've developed heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis so I'm walking rather gingerly with a slight limp. With the temperature on the lot in three figures I've experienced both extremes, high heat and the agony of da feet.
Actually the first blog was in 2007 and has continued sporatically over the years. Some of my (fans) readers have told me that the blogs are not funny anymore, they're lacking the original RONNIEISMS intent.
They said that the commercialism of the last few blogs has turned them off. I apologize for creating those reactions but there aren't many funny things that go on at an auto dealership, however, yesterday was a special day.
One of our clients buying a vehicle was attempting to get as much for his trade that he could, pretty normal, OK? He didn't have the car with him but he left to go get it and drop it off. The deal was made sight unseen after the client described his older vehicle as a car that had a rebuilt engine in it that made it run like new and had recently had a new paint job. It was a manual transmission but there was no trouble shifting.
The client returns in his vehicle putt putting into the lot. You could hear the grinding as the gears were having a slight problem going into the next speed. But the best was the new paint job, a nice bright red applied with a 6"paint brush, yes you're reading this correctly, painted with a brush. One of his front fenders had been pounded by a ball peen hammer in an attempt to correct a minor accident. None of these incidents came up on the Carfax when we checked. His air conditioning consisted of having the windows open since one of the handles was inoperable.
We went back to the client and told him the car was not exactly what he had described and made a different offer knowing all too well that he would cancel the deal. But, he quickly accepted with an "I'll take it" knowing full well that he was still getting more than his scrap heap was worth. I hope the junk yard doesn't damage this classic too much more.
I guess beauty is really in the eyes of the beholder.
In my attempts to recognize accents and respond with a "hello or good morning" in their original language I usually do pretty well. Since my 5 year stint in Hawaii I can recognize and respond in about 15 languages. My limited ability does not go beyond the familiarities such as hello, good morning, goodbye and thank you.
The other day I approached a couple in the lot that looked to be hispanic (not to be racial profiling) and said "ola, buenas dias. hello, good day. They looked back at me with quizzed looks and answered in broken English, "we're not Mexicans". Naturally, I apologized for my error and carried on speaking very slowly. They were from Nepal and fortunate for them I only knew a few words in Mandarin, that I didn't try.
Many of our clients are immigrants attending the surrounding universities, mostly on scholarships. They come from Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, Mexico and the majority from India and Pakistan. I'm giving up on learning the new languages because my internal RAM is full and floppy discs are long gone. Maybe I can stick a thumbdrive in one of my ears or, never mind, bad idea.
I will stick to my script and say "Welcome to Superior Toyota" and go from there.
During the last 3 or so weeks I've developed heel pain caused by plantar fasciitis so I'm walking rather gingerly with a slight limp. With the temperature on the lot in three figures I've experienced both extremes, high heat and the agony of da feet.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
WHAT A BEAUTY
This is my first of hopefully many more commercial attempts at publicizing something that is a somewhat different than the ordinary.
A knowledgeable car buyer or collector would recognize its worth more than the traditional automotive buyer.
We have in our SUPERIOR TOYOTA INVENTORY A FULLY LOADED ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 2008 LANDCRUISER. You have to see this beautiful beast to truly appreciate it. It only has about 47,000 miles but still comes with the Toyota Certified Warranty.
You can call me at 913-269-1388 or e-mail me at ron.shapiro@hendrickauto.com. Check out the photo.
A knowledgeable car buyer or collector would recognize its worth more than the traditional automotive buyer.
We have in our SUPERIOR TOYOTA INVENTORY A FULLY LOADED ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 2008 LANDCRUISER. You have to see this beautiful beast to truly appreciate it. It only has about 47,000 miles but still comes with the Toyota Certified Warranty.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A NEW CAREER
I guess that it's been about six months since I started looking for something to do, to keep me off the streets and getting in trouble. My Rapid Peddler business is still going but not as strong as it used to be.
I started going to car dealerships, about 20 of them, filling out long applications, leaving my resume, and I thought great interviews, no luck. Next, I did the same thing with auto parts business' since I had an exentsive auto parts background. Many interviews, no call backs. Was it my deodorant? Was I too short, too old, too ugly, did my wife dress me funny? I couldn't understand what was going on. Did they all know what they were missing?
I changed my resume so that it did not reveal my actual age, maybe that was it. They might have thought I couldn't handle the hours, the stress or the standing long hours.
I then started with photo operations, ie; Costco, Sam's, Wal-Mart, Target, Ritz, etc. I had experience up the yahoo, what's wrong with these people. Hadn't they heard about my wonderful smile, personality and wonderful smell of my roll on? Didn't they know about my networking, my memberships in numerous organizations or my famous author sister? I 'm a whole package.
I had just about given up and thought I would try the ministry when I saw an ad in the Sunday paper in the CAREER BUILDER section. SUPERIOR TOYOTA was looking for sales people that did not have to have previous experience in selling cars. I immediately e-mailed my resume to Mr. Ed Harris, the pre-owned manager who had placed the ad. I attached a note asking him to call me if he would like me to come in for a personal interview. Monday morning he called, an hour later I was in his office. We talked for almost an hour and I found out what kind of a person he his and decided this is the man I want to work for. He was upfront, didn't care about my age but did care about my previous sales experiences and promised to call me back whether he hired me or not.
Two days later I received the call back for interviews with other management. Happy to say, successful. The following week I was hired. Talk about being a dummy in a strange new land but that changed almost immediately. Everyone there was more than eager to help me, what a wonderful crew, the managers, the old and new salesmen, they are a team and I was now part of that team or soon would be.
I was there three days and can you believe, I sold my first car. I loved it, it brought back the excitement I remembered from past business experiences. I couldn't have done it without Brian's help but he made it happen. Walking up to people, introducing myself, hopefully making a friend and satisfied customer what a great high. I think I will do well, not so much for the money but to prove to those (Ed} that he made the right choice. I'll keep you posted.
Please make a note, for a wonderful deal give me a call at 913-269-1388.
I started going to car dealerships, about 20 of them, filling out long applications, leaving my resume, and I thought great interviews, no luck. Next, I did the same thing with auto parts business' since I had an exentsive auto parts background. Many interviews, no call backs. Was it my deodorant? Was I too short, too old, too ugly, did my wife dress me funny? I couldn't understand what was going on. Did they all know what they were missing?
I changed my resume so that it did not reveal my actual age, maybe that was it. They might have thought I couldn't handle the hours, the stress or the standing long hours.
I then started with photo operations, ie; Costco, Sam's, Wal-Mart, Target, Ritz, etc. I had experience up the yahoo, what's wrong with these people. Hadn't they heard about my wonderful smile, personality and wonderful smell of my roll on? Didn't they know about my networking, my memberships in numerous organizations or my famous author sister? I 'm a whole package.
I had just about given up and thought I would try the ministry when I saw an ad in the Sunday paper in the CAREER BUILDER section. SUPERIOR TOYOTA was looking for sales people that did not have to have previous experience in selling cars. I immediately e-mailed my resume to Mr. Ed Harris, the pre-owned manager who had placed the ad. I attached a note asking him to call me if he would like me to come in for a personal interview. Monday morning he called, an hour later I was in his office. We talked for almost an hour and I found out what kind of a person he his and decided this is the man I want to work for. He was upfront, didn't care about my age but did care about my previous sales experiences and promised to call me back whether he hired me or not.
Two days later I received the call back for interviews with other management. Happy to say, successful. The following week I was hired. Talk about being a dummy in a strange new land but that changed almost immediately. Everyone there was more than eager to help me, what a wonderful crew, the managers, the old and new salesmen, they are a team and I was now part of that team or soon would be.
I was there three days and can you believe, I sold my first car. I loved it, it brought back the excitement I remembered from past business experiences. I couldn't have done it without Brian's help but he made it happen. Walking up to people, introducing myself, hopefully making a friend and satisfied customer what a great high. I think I will do well, not so much for the money but to prove to those (Ed} that he made the right choice. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
A GREAT BALL GAME
On May 7th we went to a KC Royals game. We, consisted of my son Mike, my grandson Brad, his son Connor and daughter Alysia. Count us, four generations plus.
I really can't explain the feelings that I experienced the entire evening. As I constantly watched them interacting with each other the shivers coursed through my body. It was hard to control the tears that I fought from appearing on my face. I kept thinking of my parents, especially my Dad, when he had taken me to Cubs games at Wrigley Field, sitting together in the sunlight in then,(they are no more) the center field bleachers.
I was so proud to have them with me that I told the lady usher for our aisle, the vendors that came by and most of the people sitting in our immediate area. This was a happening and I wanted everyone to know how lucky I was to experience my great grand kids. I could feel my Dad's presence telling me to enjoy the moment.
During the game the stadium video camera put us on the Jumbo-tron for all to see. One of the people that saw us was another family member that phoned my son to find out our location and joined us for a few innings.
By the way, The Royals won in the bottom of the ninth.
I really can't explain the feelings that I experienced the entire evening. As I constantly watched them interacting with each other the shivers coursed through my body. It was hard to control the tears that I fought from appearing on my face. I kept thinking of my parents, especially my Dad, when he had taken me to Cubs games at Wrigley Field, sitting together in the sunlight in then,(they are no more) the center field bleachers.
I was so proud to have them with me that I told the lady usher for our aisle, the vendors that came by and most of the people sitting in our immediate area. This was a happening and I wanted everyone to know how lucky I was to experience my great grand kids. I could feel my Dad's presence telling me to enjoy the moment.
During the game the stadium video camera put us on the Jumbo-tron for all to see. One of the people that saw us was another family member that phoned my son to find out our location and joined us for a few innings.
By the way, The Royals won in the bottom of the ninth.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
I-PAD WARNING
My wife and I received an I-Pad as a gift. We've had it about 6 months but the ownership or I should say usership is 90% she and possibly 10% me. I really don't mind that much but the knee pads that I wear when requesting a turn are wearing out. Lately though, she's allowed me to stand when asking for a time slot.
I've been reading downloaded books from the I-Pad during my daily workouts which makes the time seem to go much faster. Well, the reason for this blog is that I made a major mistake a few days ago. I was purchasing a book thru I-Tunes as I normally do but I was on her computer trying to synchronize to the I-Pad.
I must have hit the wrong button during the synchronization because all of a sudden I wiped out her apps. This is the place where your games and sites come from. As soon as I realized what I had done I went into panic mode. I had un synched, desynched, deleted, undid, etc., all of her games.
Wo to me. What could I say, should I man up and tell the truth or claim a lightning strike even though the sun was shining brightly throughout the room. Maybe it was a computer glich, after all they happen all the time.
"Honey, darling, sweety" I said. "I think I messed up your programs on the I-Pad." "Not Bejewelled Blitz!" she said. "I'm afraid so, I've been trying to get everything back, but no luck."
She told me how many points she had and that I had wiped out her best game ever. I tried to calm her down by telling her it was only a game. Shouldn't have said that. I couldn't apologize enough, no matter what I said, it didn't difuse the problem. I guess my days of using her computer for synching or anything else was over. My laptop is the one I had been using so why did I decide to use hers? Old age mental lapse, I guess.
Now for the good part of the story. My daughter, The Apple whiz and her husband came bye in the afternoon to say Hi. Since he's been working in Washington, we hadn't seen him in over 4 months.
I told my daughter what I had done and the first thing she asked was "you have it backed up, don't you?" I didn't know if it was or not but it seems that when you synchronize it also backs up, to a degree. Long story short, my very bright daughter, who takes after me, got everything back and restored peace once again in our household.
I've been reading downloaded books from the I-Pad during my daily workouts which makes the time seem to go much faster. Well, the reason for this blog is that I made a major mistake a few days ago. I was purchasing a book thru I-Tunes as I normally do but I was on her computer trying to synchronize to the I-Pad.
I must have hit the wrong button during the synchronization because all of a sudden I wiped out her apps. This is the place where your games and sites come from. As soon as I realized what I had done I went into panic mode. I had un synched, desynched, deleted, undid, etc., all of her games.
Wo to me. What could I say, should I man up and tell the truth or claim a lightning strike even though the sun was shining brightly throughout the room. Maybe it was a computer glich, after all they happen all the time.
"Honey, darling, sweety" I said. "I think I messed up your programs on the I-Pad." "Not Bejewelled Blitz!" she said. "I'm afraid so, I've been trying to get everything back, but no luck."
She told me how many points she had and that I had wiped out her best game ever. I tried to calm her down by telling her it was only a game. Shouldn't have said that. I couldn't apologize enough, no matter what I said, it didn't difuse the problem. I guess my days of using her computer for synching or anything else was over. My laptop is the one I had been using so why did I decide to use hers? Old age mental lapse, I guess.
Now for the good part of the story. My daughter, The Apple whiz and her husband came bye in the afternoon to say Hi. Since he's been working in Washington, we hadn't seen him in over 4 months.
I told my daughter what I had done and the first thing she asked was "you have it backed up, don't you?" I didn't know if it was or not but it seems that when you synchronize it also backs up, to a degree. Long story short, my very bright daughter, who takes after me, got everything back and restored peace once again in our household.
So, if your family is getting ready to purchase an I-Pad, be warned, it's very addictive and you should buy two. My honey has resumed speaking to me again.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
OUR ANNUAL FOOTBALL DINNER
Last weekend our shortened group of 15 had our annual football dinner at a beautiful restaurant in Riverside, Mo.
The ambience was beautiful and the service was great. Our single waitress worked her behind off to give us everything we requested on time and served beautifully, all except one dinner that had not finished moving before it was served.
It was wonderful sharing the evening with our closest friends whose homes we frequented during the football season. I believe our group has been together over 15 years. We've lost a few of our members but their spouses are still part of the group.
We laugh a lot, we bitch a little. seldom argue about anything but overall we act like the Seniors we are. Most of us have aches and pains, some more than others but we still try to get out and enjoy each other's company.
Unfortunately, for the price we paid, (too much) even though the football kitty paid the majority, the food was not up to previous visits. The food should have tasted as well as the presentation, which was beautiful. Yes, I know it's hard to please a bunch of 70-80 year olds but as much as we eat out, we know good food. Not everyone's meal was bad but all agreed it should have been much better.
The important thing was that we were together and enjoyed each other.
The ambience was beautiful and the service was great. Our single waitress worked her behind off to give us everything we requested on time and served beautifully, all except one dinner that had not finished moving before it was served.
It was wonderful sharing the evening with our closest friends whose homes we frequented during the football season. I believe our group has been together over 15 years. We've lost a few of our members but their spouses are still part of the group.
We laugh a lot, we bitch a little. seldom argue about anything but overall we act like the Seniors we are. Most of us have aches and pains, some more than others but we still try to get out and enjoy each other's company.
Unfortunately, for the price we paid, (too much) even though the football kitty paid the majority, the food was not up to previous visits. The food should have tasted as well as the presentation, which was beautiful. Yes, I know it's hard to please a bunch of 70-80 year olds but as much as we eat out, we know good food. Not everyone's meal was bad but all agreed it should have been much better.
The important thing was that we were together and enjoyed each other.
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