I was between jobs with luxury automobile makes, and answered the ad for a
service advisor at the local GMC-Jeep-KIA dealer. The pressure of continued out
go with no income was showing its effects, so I applied and was called for an
interview, by the GM. I should have been suspicious when he hired me based on
my resume, and I should have been suspicious that when he asked how much money I
needed to make, I shot a high figure and he accepted it. Like the The Beatles
song, “ I should have known better...” But everyone was nice, and first days
can be rough days, but I seemed to fit right in. They paired me with a Bob, who
I thought was a softball hooker, he was always on the phone getting offers to
pitch for teams, neglecting his customers, so I had to deal with them. In his
defense, he at least reassigned my number to them, so I did get paid for them.
One other advisor had a microwave under his desk where the technical books
should be, and was know for asking others “would you get that customer for me?”
The only guy who seemed to know what was going on, was a guy nicknamed Hutch, as
in Starsky and Hutch, by a lot attendant, who thought he looked like Hutch, who
he confused with Starsky. I am not making this up. A man assigned to moving
the cars from the service drive I nicknamed Gaucho, a tall Mexican man, he
always dressed very nicely, like a gaucho, boots, sometimes a bolo tie, but
always a cowboy hat. I never heard him speak, but he did a good job of moving
the cars out, sometimes before I was ready, or the customer was. More than
once, he got between us, and just took the car. And finally, there was Crystal,
a young girl just out of high school who answered the phones and did filing.
Who was known for wearing short shorts, not very professional, and she was a bit
chubby, this after all was a dealership, or so it said, and one day when her
favorite song came on the radio above her desk, she turned it up on high volume,
not knowing it was connected to the intercom of the store, and it blasted
everywhere. Her feelings got hurt when she was told to turn it off and
chastised. “But it’s my favorite song...”
Finally the job got to be too much, I went home for lunch and we would
laugh over the morning’s entertainment, and so I finally quit. But they
wouldn’t let me. So I stayed, promised things would get better, and after two
weeks, I quit again. Again they wouldn’t let me, and when I asked why, telling
me “because we like you.” Shades of the Mickey Mouse Club, you might say this
was a Mickey Mouse dealership. But I had checked out, and gave it another
week. Finally on a Thursday after getting paid, I left all my things they
provided me on my desk, with a note “I quit,” and never went back. Which they
never quite understood, as they left me a phone message the next morning about
10 am, “what time you coming in today?” And they are still waiting.
But while there, one of the owner’s sons came up to me and
complimented me “we really enjoy listening to you on the phone.” Everyone likes
a compliment, and I didn’t think much of it, at first. Until it hit me, they
were listening in on my phone conversations. While some surfed the web, or did
crossword puzzles, these guys listened in to their employee conversations.
Approaching my boss to complain, he said they always did it, and mine were
refreshing to listen to, I was kind, I listened, sold almost every upsell and
had great customer rapport. I was smooth, honest, and put the customer at
ease. Which is all very nice, but still I don’t like being listened into
without my OK, or knowledge. A lesson learned, you never know who is
listening!
I was part of the dealership, but never really a part of it.
Paul writes to the Philipians in regards to their new ancestry in Christ. You
may be a great distance from Rome, but still a Roman. But now a child of God
first, and even though you obey Roman laws and rules, God’s laws take
precedent. Not rebellious, but respectful, as you represent God and the kingdom
of him in heaven. Your true heritage is heaven, and we are expected to reflect
it. Something we cannot do on our own, as we need to be dependent on the
spirit, it can save yes, but also guide and provide. A Christian life is a
different process than being a citizen of a country, you are to portray Christ
in your lifestyle, it is the indwelling of Jesus Christ in you that shapes your
personality, you are to be a witness, not witless. We do pretty good until we
start to depend on ourselves, and leave ourselves open to conflict. Our enemies
may not be a coworker, but always the devil wanting to get a foothold and cause
dissent. Just confusion can be enough, even if it is your favorite song. We
see this in ourselves when we get discouraged, for we are wanting our way
instead of the spirit’s, and people notice, even if we don’t. Pride can form a
tough external barrier between us and Jesus. Fortunately God forgives, and when
we are self dependent instead of spirit driven, we get worried, anxious,
irrational, and timid and impatient. Just the opposite of the fruit of the
spirit. Just because you are in a crazy situation, doesn’t mean you have to
participate.
And don’t let situations get between you and other Christians.
We need to stand firm in Christ, if divided, we can fall prey, as the enemy
seeks to destroy by separating us or turning us against each other. So stand
firm in Jesus, be spirit led instead of self led, keeping our eyes on Jesus. We
cannot do this ourselves, we need Jesus! When we find our conduct worthy of
Christ, others will listen and see him in our lives. Just like my conversations
were listened in on, I hope they saw a part of Jesus in them. as they knew I was
a Christian,and held me to a higher standard. Even if they themselves weren’t.
The dealership made money, the employees were happy, but had achieved something
less than professional, a standard that was below standard. Like the frog in
the heated tray, it felt good until the heat will be turned up someday and it
will kill them. I was trained to serve, and I hope I did. Maybe a short
conversation between the service manager and a customer explains it best, when a
woman asked for a loner car for her KIA, she was told “mam, you own a loaner
car.” By a man who was always bragging about his church, between arguments over
the best tequila. Who never mentioned Jesus. I wonder, if we listened in on
his prayers what we would hear? Which makes me wonder, what about mine? What
about yours? I hope I don’t talk to God the way I do to others. If only I
would talk to them like I do in my prayers, maybe they just might listen. Worth
a try don’t you think?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com