Thanks for the Bailout, Now F@#! Off!

Mrs. Uneven and I currently are in the Midwest visiting the Uneven Parents. As folks out here are accustomed to doing, I went out to start the rental) car engine for a few minutes so that the car battery wouldn't die. Upon returning to the car to turn the engine off, I discovered to my chagrin that the Chrylser PT Cruiser automatically locks the car doors if the key is in the ignition. I consider this a minor design flaw, but nothing to get too upset about since most people, most of the time (i.e., non-Midwesterners and Midwesterners during warm months) don't leave their cars running for extended periods of time. What I am upset about is that Stu Hanson's Chrysler dealership in Des Moines, which has the ability to cut keys, refused to do so for me and in fact was quite rude about it. This comes despite the fact that Chrysler just received a boatload of my taxpayer dollars to stay in business.

Now, anyone paying attention to the U.S. auto industry should be aware that one of the industry's fundamental problems is that there are too many car dealerships and state franchise laws stop the Big 3 from reducing their number. Given the shabby treatment I received, it's no wonder the Big 3 are going under. When they finally go bankrupt, I'd like to see Stu Hanson's be one of the first dealerships closed.